The New Girl
by lucie.x
Summary: A 1D FANFIC: 18 year old Zoe Williams is fresh off the plane from Adelaide, Australia in order to go to University in London, but after a twist of fate  and a stroke of luck  she meets 5 boys who will turn her world upside down.
1. falling

**Hey all, this is my first fanfic ever, so kindness would be greatly appreciated!**

**Read, review and all that good stuff :)**

falling.

-x-

I let out a high-pitched scream as I fell through the door. My heavy suitcase landed roughly on top of my stomach and for a moment left me winded. My phone flew out of my hand and I winced as it cluttered noisily against the ground. IPhones weren't built to withstand such an impact, but I could hear from where I was the voice of my mother call "hello? Hello?" through the speaker, so the phone must have survived. I groaned and tried to heave the suitcase off of me, and after a few attempts managed to succeed. I took a huge breath and stayed where I was, lying on the floor of my new - albeit apparently deadly - apartment in London. I could still hear Mum panicking at my lack of response through the phone.

"Zoe Marie, I swear to God if you don't reply I'm getting on the next plane to London and dragging you back here to Adelaide by your hair."

I scampered to my feet and scooped up my phone from where it had landed, which happened to be halfway across the room.

"Mum, relax, I'm here. I may or may not have just fallen into my apartment." I cocked the phone between my shoulder and ear as I walked to the door and wrestled the key out of the keyhole.

"Peter," I could hear Mum call to my father, "Peter, she just fell into her apartment. I knew we shouldn't have let her go; eighteen is too young to leave home for another country. She's too clumsy. Why didn't we think of this earlier?" Mum's voice was verging on hysterical.

"Mum!" I exclaimed, brushing a rogue piece of blond hair from my face, "would you please relax? I'm fine. My suitcase just got a bit heavy, and I'm going to thank you for that one! Tell me, am I now harbouring the kitchen sink from home?" I plonked down onto one of the black leather couches Dad and I had picked out online while we were organising the apartment. I was surprised by how well it had turned out, and I knew my parents must have paid a truckload for it. I twirled the piece of hair that would always fall in my face; something I'd done whenever I was tired from since I was a baby. Right now, I was absolutely exhausted. I'd spent two days travelling from Adelaide to London, with a fourteen-hour stopover in Singapore. I'd only arrived in London two hours ago and had made the fatal mistake of calling home. My mother wasn't really helping calm me down after just moving to a new country and knowing absolutely no one here.

I swung my legs up onto the couch and tucked a hand under my head.

"- and that's why I thought it'd be a good idea to pack another suitcase inside your suitcase." Mum had obviously been trying to make some point, but I hadn't been paying attention.

"Mmhmm," I mumbled, closing my eyes and yawning.

"No no, Zoe! Don't go to sleep, you'll never acclimatise if you do!" The voice of my father cut in. Dad was probably the most experienced traveller I knew, as because he worked for a French company, he was constantly travelling between France and other domestic cities, and had only gotten back from Sydney the day before I left for Singapore. I knew I should listen to him; everything he said made sense. Pity my eyelids were too heavy and my brain too groggy to realise.

"Dad," I said slowly, attempting to sound awake. "Tell Mum I'll call her tomorrow, it must be close to midnight at home and I need to get a few things done." And by that I of course meant I needed to pass out on my couch for a good five hours.

"Zoe." Dad said in a warning tone, and I knew he didn't buy my story. "I'll tell Mum you have to go, but please don't fall asleep, you'll regret it."

I nodded a few times before realising Dad probably couldn't see that. "Yes," I said instead, "I promise I won't fall asleep. Bye Dad, love you."

Dad said goodbye and I hung up, the phone sliding out of my hand and landing on the floor again. I groaned loudly as I leaned off the couch to grab it. My balance was clearly off, as within seconds I rolled straight off the couch and came crashing down on top of my phone. I cursed my own clumsiness and as I hauled myself up, I looked to the front door and saw I had left it open, and a boy of about my age was standing there, watching me carefully. As soon as our eyes met, he jumped back and his mouth formed a small "O" of surprise.

"I'm so sorry, but I was walking past and heard a bang. Are you alright?"

I stared at him for a few seconds without saying a word. His accent was strange, and I didn't have to be a local to know it wasn't native to London. He ran a hand through his light brown, almost blond curly hair and smiled a little awkwardly.

"I'm fine," I replied cautiously, rubbing my side and stretching my right arm. "Today just has not been my day."

The boy smiled again and took a slow step forward. "Do you need a hand?" he gestured to the suitcase lying in the middle of the doorway.

"Nah that's fine, I meant to keep that there," I replied, a tad more sarcastically than intended and I winced, hoping he wouldn't think I was being rude.

"And why wouldn't you? Seems a great place for a suitcase. Who needs to be able to walk through a doorway?"

His tone made me smile, and I gave up the whole act. "I know, but if you wouldn't mind, I would love some help moving it. It already bested me once today."

He looked up at me curiously as he grabbed my suitcase and hauled it effortlessly through the room and to the corner of the lounge room. "So when did you fly in?" he asked to my surprise as he set down the suitcase. I cringed and sat back down on the couch. "Whatever do you mean?" I said in a faux posh accent.

"That was quite possibly the worst fake British accent I have ever heard in my life. Well done." He replied with a laugh.

I shook my head. "I'm tired. It's usually much, much better."

"Is that what your Australian friends tell you?" he raised his eyebrows and cocked his head; obviously smug that he had guessed where I was from.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, scrunching up my nose.

He let out a chuckle. "Well, you're obviously not from here, yet you speak perfect English, and don't have an American accent. It wasn't too hard to figure out." He stood up straight and dusted his hands against the back of his tight jeans. I realised then that sitting down had been a bad idea; he now dwarfed me even more than when I was standing, making me think he'd top out at about 6 feet.

"I'm Liam," he said after a minute, holding out his hand. I stared at it for a few seconds, not realising I was meant to shake it. British guys were already so much more polite than Australians.

"Zoe," I replied, grabbing his hand.

"Nice to meet you," he said with his strange accent. "Enjoying London?"

I had two options here. One was that I could lie and say yes; that it was the most amazing place I'd ever been. The second was to be honest and say I was pretty much hating it so far. Me being me chose the latter.

"The weather is shit." I replied without really thinking, then quickly covered my mouth with my hands. "I'm sorry, I wasn't meant to say that."

"It's okay," Liam said with a laugh, "I have heard the word before." He leant up against the wall. "And I hate to tell you this, but you're in England now. Say hello to grey, grey and more grey!" he further emphasised his point by pointing to his grey checked shirt.

I groaned. "Thank you for the encouraging words, I definitely do not want to hang myself from that light fixture right now." I pointed up to the elaborate light awning dangling above us. Liam let out another laugh. "I definitely have to introduce you to Louis."

I raised an eyebrow. That was quite possibly the oddest reaction I could have gotten to my light fixture gag.

"Anyway," Liam said, turning around. "I really have to get going now. I'm already late to meet the lads."

"Yeah, sure," I responded, trying my hardest not to smirk at how he called his friends "the lads". "I still have to head downstairs and pick up the rest of my bags."

Liam's eyes jumped so much out of his head that they almost whacked me in the face. "More bags? Seriously? How long are you planning on spending in this place?"

"I start school in three weeks, and it's a four year course. You do the maths." I replied, raising my hands and shrugging.

"Fair enough," Liam said, walking over to the door and holding it open. "After you then."

"Cheers," I said, pleasantly surprised at how much of a gentleman he was, apart from the not-understanding-how-many-bags-a-girl-needs thing. We rode the elevator down to the ground floor, and I didn't say anything. I had always hated elevators since I was little. I wasn't even afraid of heights, it was just the thought of dangling in a box, metres above the ground, with the possibility of getting trapped there was what freaked me out completely.

Liam seemed to notice this. "Are you alright?" he asked as we stepped out and onto the ground floor. A pile of my things were still sitting, untouched in the corner of the room, my guitar case resting neatly on top and out of harm's way. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, fine. Just hate elevators."

He looked at me incredulously and narrowed his pretty brown eyes. "Would not have picked it."

I shrugged and walked over to my bags. I attempted to heave them up from the ground then promptly gasped a little at the weight of them, not realising I had packed so much. I was going to absolutely kill Mum for being indignant on packing for me. Liam looked around a tad nervously, seeming to be arguing with himself about something. I realised it must have been either 'help the struggling Australian girl' or 'meet friends on time', as after a minute he walked up to me and said, "here, let me take those."

I swatted his hands away. "Liam, it's fine. Go meet your mates, don't be late because of me. I'll manage."

"It's okay, I'll be quick." He reached down to grab the bags again.

"Liam, get off." I said seriously, looking straight into his eyes. "Go!"

He didn't say anything, just stared from my face to my guitar case and back again. I hauled the bags up again and into the elevator. "Go have fun with your friends, it was nice to meet you." I said to him, holding out my hand. I had to get used to this shaking hands thing sooner or later.

"Thanks, Zoe." He shook my hand softly. "It was good to meet you too. I'll swing past a bit later to see how you went with the bags." He smiled, making his cheekbones stand out and adding to his already defined jaw line. I didn't get the chance to reply, as the elevator doors closed and I let go of his hand, so I muttered a "sure, can't wait" to the reflection of myself in the elevator walls.

-x-

It felt like I'd been asleep for only two seconds when a knock at the door made me jump off the couch. My guitar had been lying against me as I had obviously fallen asleep whilst in the middle of playing, and because I jumped up so quickly, it had gone flying off my chest and I had to take a leap that would rival something of Superman's to grab it before it whacked into the floor. Unfortunately this meant I then had to tumble with my guitar over the wood coffee table and into the entertainment unit.

"Ow." I managed to squeak out, my arms holding my guitar in the air so it wouldn't be crushed and my legs twisted painfully underneath me. I definitely looked like something out of a horror movie.

"Oh my God." A voice said from the doorway, and I quickly snapped my head up to see Liam staring at me, a look of both shock and hysteria on his face.

"How much did you see?" I yelled, pulling myself up and trying to look as dignified as possible.

"Um, the whole thing?" Liam replied, wincing slightly. "Are you just constantly on the floor?"

I slapped a hand to my face, but I couldn't help to laugh. Seeing that I was fine, Liam took this as an invitation to let out the longest laugh I'd heard from him.

"I will forever remember that, honestly I will."

"I like to call that the Zoe Williams 'Jump and Roll', so when telling this story to your friends, - which I'm sure you will - please get the name right at least."

Liam continued to laugh, while another boy with slick dark hair and suspenders appeared from behind him.

"I'd give you a ten for creativity, a nine for execution, but probably only five for landing. However, I am greatly impressed none the less." He gave me a wink.

"Sorry, you are...?" I asked, dusting myself off.

"Louis," he said, "Nice to meet you." He held out his hand, and this time I didn't stare at it for a year before working out what was going on.

"Louis," I repeated. "Liam told me I had to meet you."

"Well, can I just thank you for the most memorable first impression I've ever had, and I've meet a lot of people in my time."

I clicked my tongue and gave him a thumbs up, unsure of how to respond to such a statement. Liam walked over to me slowly and grabbed the guitar out of my hands. "At least this survived." He leant against the arm of the couch and started strumming quietly.

"You play?" I asked, pleasantly surprised.

"He dabbles," Louis answered quickly, patting Liam's shoulder and then settled himself down on the couch like he'd lived here forever.

"Do you play anything else?" I asked, settling myself down on the floor by his feet.

He shook his head. "Just a bit of guitar and vocals."

I stared at him. "Snap. But I play piano as well." Liam gave me a surprised smile and continued strumming what sounded like a familiar tune, only I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

"What song is that?" I asked, cocking my head. "I swear I've heard it before?"

Liam abruptly stopped playing. "Really? I just made that up then. How odd."

I looked at him curiously while he glanced up to the clock on the wall. "Oh wow, it's already 5 o'clock. Lou, we need to get moving."

"We do?" Louis said back incredulously. "Think he's a bit nervous around you, Zoe."

I almost choked on my tongue.

"No Louis, you know we have to meet up with the lads in fifteen minutes."

"We do?" Louis asked again, seeming to enjoy the awkwardness he was now creating.

"Zoe, we'll see you later." Liam said exasperated, and grabbed Louis' arm.

"Yeah, sure." I replied, trying not to be offended. "I need to get to the shops anyway if I plan on eating tonight." That part wasn't a lie; I hadn't eaten since the plane trip over, and that was a good seven hours ago.

I waved to the boys as they walked out the door, and wondered what on Earth had gotten into Liam; not even Louis appeared to know what was going on.

I shrugged and sighed loudly as I grabbed my thick coat and handbag from the kitchen bench, then waited a few minutes before walking out the door. I had to make sure Liam and Louis were gone so we would avoid any awkward encounters. It was fair enough if they weren't interested, or if I had been rude and shoved them out my door; but it hadn't been like that at all. They had been sitting on my couch, playing my guitar. It was only when I asked what song Liam was playing did he suddenly jump up and realise him and Louis had somewhere to be.

I sighed again and locked the apartment door behind me, quickly glancing down the corridor and realising it was stark empty. I shoved my keys into my bag and took the elevator down alone, thinking I'd already blown a chance to make friends in this city.

-x-

**Bit lengthy, so thanks to anyone who got this far!**

**The next chapter is even longer, so prepare yourselves for next week!**

**x**


	2. bruises

**just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the support this story has been getting so early on!**

**actually means the world (:**

**hope you enjoy chapter two!**

**x**

bruises.

-x-

I woke up the next morning with the sorest ribs and the whole right hand side of my body was in pain. I pulled my top up and surveyed the damage, seeing that I had acquired a couple of new bruises down my body. It didn't help that my bed was blatantly new and had an unslept in, unfamiliarity to it that I just did not appreciate. My head still felt groggy and sluggish, despite the fact I'd listened to my dad and stayed awake the whole day yesterday, keeping myself awake by watching TV and playing the guitar. It had been a struggle, but angry and confused thoughts directed at Liam also helped keep me awake.

I rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands and checked the alarm clock by my bed, letting me know it was now 8:30 in the morning, meaning I'd been asleep for twelve hours. Despite this, I yawned loudly as I stretched and slowly stood up. I walked out into the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine, thinking there was nothing else in the world I could possibly want more right now than a cup of coffee, apart from maybe two cups.

As I waited for the coffee to be poured, I walked over and grabbed the remote for the television and pressed on. It was still on the music channel from when I was watching last night, and I was greeted by the intro of "Paradise" by Coldplay, one of my favourite songs. I sang along loudly as I danced around the apartment with my cup of coffee. The TV presenter then announced that for the next two hours they would be playing their favourite British singles of all time, and kicked off, much to my delight, with "Wonderwall" by Oasis. It immediately made me think of home, as my dad would always play Oasis in the house, especially when I was younger. There were even videos of me at two years old, head banging to "What's the Story Morning Glory?"

I scoffed down a piece of toast while watching, and just as the video was finishing, I placed my mug in the dishwasher and moved to the bathroom as the presenter said, "and next up, something a bit newer for you all, it's One Direction's "One Thing"!". I turned on the shower just as the music started playing, and the sound of the water drowned out everything else.

I was curious about One Direction though. I'd heard a couple of their songs before, and my little cousin Isabella was constantly talking about them, and in particular, one member called Harry. But that was all I knew about them, and I'd never managed to catch a music video of theirs or ever actually see them before.

I dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of grey jeans and a navy sweater and wrapped my hair in a towel before going back to the bathroom to deal with the disaster zone that was my face. My eyes were a little puffy, and they'd changed colour yet again from dark blue to a greenish colour; what they always did with lack of sleep. I splashed my face with cold water, trying to force my eyes awake. I lingered when brushing my teeth, and after applying s bit of make up to make me feel better, I then braved the hardest part of myself; the tangled, thick, wavy mess of blond that was permanently attached to my head. My hair fell to my waist in damp waves when I unwrapped it from the towel, and I sighed dramatically. After completely blow-drying it, which took about half an hour, I gave up on any possibility of styling and threw it into a huge, messy ponytail that made me cringe at the sight of it.

After glancing at the clock on my phone, I decided now would be the best time to call Alex, my best friend from Adelaide.

"Zo!" he greeted me with immediately. "How are you? How's London? Your mum called me this morning asking if I'd heard from you. Apparently there was some incident with a door and you falling?"

I gaped at the phone. "I am absolutely going to kill the woman. There's no way around it."

"God it's good to hear your voice." Alex said with a sigh. "Hannah's been driving me absolutely insane without you here."

Alex was referring to the other girl in our group of four. It had always been Alex, Hannah, Seb and I for as long as I could remember. And with Seb in America on a baseball scholarship and me now in England for Uni, only Alex and Hannah were left back in Adelaide. Hannah was definitely the clingiest one out of us four, and she'd been having a tough time without Seb and I. And by the sounds of things, it hadn't been going so well for Alex.

"I miss you. You have no idea how quiet it is here now. Even Mum and Dad say they miss having you around, lying on our couch and eating our food."

I had to laugh at that. "I miss you too. And tell your parents I miss their couch and their food; it's definitely better than where I am now!"

At that moment, there was a loud knock at my front door. Alex continued recounting his day to me, unaware of my non-responsiveness. When I opened the door and saw who was standing there, I froze.

"Alex?" I said after a moment. "I'm gonna have to call you back." I hung up without waiting for a response.

"Hi." Liam said awkwardly.

"Hello." I sounded way too formal.

"Look, I'm so sorry for yesterday. I didn't mean to be rude." He stepped around me and into the apartment without waiting to be invited in.

"Okay then." I mumbled and shut the door before leaning back against it with my arms crossed.

"And we really did have to be somewhere, I wasn't making that up. Louis was just being difficult."

"Right." I responded, still not completely convinced.

"But let me make it up to you. Did you want to go and see the city today?"

He surprised me so much I leant back with too much force, which resulted in me starting to slide down the door.

"What?" I said, attempting to regain my footing. I failed miserably, because I slid completely down the door and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor. Liam raised his eyebrows with a smirk, but before he could repeat himself, his phone rang.

"Hi," he said, his humoured smirk turning into a frown. "When?"

There was muttering from the other end of the phone.

Liam sighed. "Yes, of course. I'll be there." He disconnected the call and looked to me apologetically. "Raincheck? I have to meet up with…"

"The lads again?" I interjected, lifting myself up from the ground and sounding a bit sourer than I would have liked. For some reason, his aloofness was extremely irritating to me.

"I really am sorry, Zoe." He said, furrowing his thick brows. "Here, give me your number. I'll give you a call after I'm finished."

I shrugged it off. "You really don't have to. It's fine."

"Zoe, give me your number." He replied forcefully, chucking his phone at me. I had no choice but to catch it. I didn't say anything as I punched my digits in.

"I'll talk to you later, then." Was all he said as he reached over to take his phone back, and was then promptly out the door before I could say anything.

-x-

I couldn't stop fidgeting as I sat on the couch, twirling my phone between my fingers. It was now three o'clock, and I still hadn't heard from Liam. I was trying to pretend that I wouldn't care if he didn't call, but I was only kidding myself. I wanted him to ring. And I wanted him to apologise, and then I wanted him to take me out around London, there was no denying it. I cursed him outwardly and flicked through the television channels, exceedingly bored already.

As I sat there, completely beached on the couch, there was a quick knock at the door. I jumped up so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. Instead of calling, Liam must have just thrown caution to the wind and decided on coming straight over. I had to say I was impressed.

"Coming!" I called, straightening out my sweater and hitching up my jeans. I opened the door to find a worried looking Louis.

"Hey, Zo, is Liam here?" Louis glanced into the apartment.

"What?" I asked impolitely, not realising what he had said or the fact that we were now on nickname basis.

"Liam. About two inches taller than me. Curly hair. Ridiculous accent. Ringing any bells?"

"Louis you idiot, I know who Liam is." I replied, a tad exasperated.

"Excellent, then you'd know if he is currently in your apartment."

"Lou," I started, trying out the new nickname thing we had going on, "I haven't seen him since this morning. He said he had somewhere to be with "the lads"."

Louis looked confused. "Yeah, that was this morning; I was there. But we split around one o'clock, and I haven't seen him since."

I was immediately angry again. "He said he was going to call me after he finished with you guys. And he hasn't yet."

Louis looked around uncomfortably. "Oh."

"Look, I haven't seen him. But when you do track him down, tell him I'm fine without a Liam guided tour of the city."

"Liam was going to take you on a tour of the city?" Louis appeared to be genuinely surprised.

"Not anymore he's not." I puffed out my chest and crossed my arms, trying to appear definite and not disappointed, which I quite clearly was.

"I'm sure he just got held up somewhere." Louis didn't sound convinced himself.

"Whatever, Lou, it really doesn't matter." Louis opened his mouth to protest at my words, but my phone rang before he could say anything. I looked at the caller ID, and I didn't recognise the number. Louis sneakily glanced over when he saw my frown. "That's Liam's number."

I chucked him the phone. "Go on, you're the one who was looking for him."

Louis paused for a second before answering. "Liam?"

Liam muttered something on the other end.

"I just came over to ask her where you are. Which begs the question, where are you?"

Louis turned away and put a hand over his exposed ear. "What? I can't hear a thing you're saying!"

Liam must have yelled this time, because even I could hear what he said. Apparently, he was trapped outside the complex of our apartments due to fans. _Fans? _I thought to myself, _as in the blowing variety? Or as in groupies?_

Louis swore loudly. "Alright, give me a second. I'm going to get Steve, sit tight mate."

I stared at Louis, completely confused as he handed the phone back to me. "What is go-" I started to say, but Louis cut me off by throwing his hands over my mouth.

"Please don't ask. Trust me, you'd prefer if you didn't know." For once, Louis sounded serious. He turned to leave. "Oh, Liam says hi, by the way. And that he's sorry about today."

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry won't be necessary."

"Stop being stubborn, Zoe!" Louis called over his shoulder, before breaking into a run and sprinting down the corridor.

I closed the door and walked slowly over to the couch, contemplating what had just happened.

I thought about letting it go, just moving on with no questions asked. I snorted at myself. What a ridiculous thought, I'd never been able to let anything just "go" once in my life.

I grabbed my keys and was out the door in five seconds flat.

-x-

It was absolute mayhem downstairs. Security guards were in abundance, and there was at least one stationed at every entrance. The windows were painted with hundreds of screaming teenage and pre-teenage girls. They were all hysterical, screaming and chanting and I immediately thought that Mum would be right at home amongst them. As I scanned the scene, a security guard came up to me. "Miss, you shouldn't be down here."

"But I live here?" I said, frowning at the huge man slightly. He looked curious, and didn't seem to believe me. I dangled my keys in front of him.

"Sorry Miss, but even so, you should go back to your room."

What was I, five? "I think I'll be okay," I said back, stepping around him.

"Miss!" he called after me, and I turned to look at him. Unfortunately, I didn't stop walking.

"Ommph!" I cried as I landed on the ground. My fall however, had been broken by something not quite as hard as the stone tiles the floor was made of, and I turned to see what I had landed on.

I immediately wished I had fallen with a greater force, or had been holding a couple of bricks at the time of impact.

"Zoe! What are you doing down here?" Liam sounded panicked, like he was last night before abruptly leaving my apartment.

"Why does everyone seem to think I shouldn't be here at the moment?" I asked, throwing my hands up in the air as we both got to our feet.

Liam looked flushed, and seemed to be in no mood for my rhetorical questions. He was standing next to a huge security guard who was eyeing me suspiciously.

"Who's she?" he asked gruffly.

"She's fine, Steve," Liam answered with a sigh, "She's from upstairs."

Steve, who I presumed was the before mentioned Steve Louis had spoken about, looked from me to the other security guard.

"Okay, she comes too." He said, then promptly grabbed my arm and practically carried me into the lift with Liam.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" I protested, throwing his arm off me. "I had to get out!"

"Not with that mob down there." Steve replied, sounding amused. "She's lovely this one, where'd you find her?" He asked Liam sarcastically.

"Excuse me?" I said in a high-pitched voice. I couldn't believe I was actually trying to pick a fight with a 6'5" security guard, when I was a 5'7", extremely clumsy, teenage girl.

Liam said nothing, only did his signature smirk and crossed his arms. I stared at the both of them dubiously.

"Does anyone want to tell me what's going on?" I asked aggressively, looking from Steve to Liam and back again. Steve glanced at Liam, who shook his head ever so slightly. "Australian." He muttered, and looked to the ground, trying to avert my eyes.

"No, then we don't want to tell you what's going on," Steve said, and the tone of his voice suggested talk on this topic should end immediately.

I huffed and folded my arms over my chest and the elevator gave a loud _ping!_ as we arrived on the 14th floor. Steve, to my surprise, still grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the lift. He wasn't even holding Liam anymore; it had suddenly become me that was his priority.

"Did Louis tell you that I'm sorry?" Liam asked from Steve's other side.

"Yes." I replied shortly.

"Are you mad?"

"In both senses of the word? Yes, yes I am."

"Did you want me to stop talking?"

"Yes."

Liam raised his hands in an "I give up" way. Steve whistled and shook his head, but didn't comment. I could tell he wanted to, but I shot him my best "don't even think about it" look and he shut his mouth immediately.

I then noticed we had walked straight past my apartment, as mine was the first on the left after getting out of the lifts.

"Wait, this isn't my apartment."

"I know," Liam said, "It's mine." We were standing outside the door of the last apartment on the right side of the corridor. Liam rattled the handle to find it was already open.

"I have to stop leaving my spare key with Louis." He grumbled, and swung the door open. He still let me walk in first.

I mumbled something along the lines of a thankyou and stepped inside to be greeted by Louis and two other teenage boys.

"Why hello there, missy!" A blond with a thick Irish accent said.

"Bloody hell mate, what happened?" Louis cut it, while I was left to gap at the blond for calling me "missy".

"Oh yeah, let's all feel sorry for Liam because he was mobbed by hundreds of girls. Tough life mate," another boy with thick, curly hair pushed to the side said. He walked over and patted Liam's shoulder before turning to me.

"And you brought one of them back here? What's gotten into you today? You're actually becoming slightly more fun!"

"Missy," the blond one said again, "What's your name?"

"Missy?" I repeated incredulously. "Missy. You can't be serious."

"Niall, leave the girl alone," Interjected another voice, and I hadn't noticed the other boy lounging lazily on the couch, not even looking over to the commotion the rest of us were causing. He didn't look overly tall, and had dark skin with thick black hair styled into the perfect quiff. From what I could see of his profile, even his eyelashes were thick and stuck out noticeably, and I was totally envious. I wished mine could look like that even with mascara.

Louis and Liam were murmuring in the corner to Steve, who promptly nodded and said his goodbyes before walking out the door, letting the boys know he'd be downstairs if anyone needed him.

"Well, you must be the illusive "lads" I've heard so little about." I said after a moment of silence.

The curly haired boy looked over to Liam. "Ooh, she even uses big words."

I daggered him. "She has a name."

"Missy?" The blond one - Niall, apparently - said with a laugh.

"Zoe." Liam said, hitting Niall over the head affectionately. Niall feigned hurt.

Louis came over and placed a glass of water in my hands. "I wish I could say that was something stronger, but good ol' Liam over here doesn't drink alcohol, and you look like you could use some."

I tried to smile; only it turned into more of a grimace. I didn't think I'd ever been so overwhelmed in my life. Louis led me to the couch and softly pushed me down next to the dark haired boy.

"Here, Zayn, look after Zoe for a minute." Louis walked off to talk to the rest of the boys who were huddled around the kitchen bench.

I turned and stuck out my hand to Zayn. "Hey, I'm Zoe."

He looked at me and shook my hand, revealing striking brown eyes and a set of full lips. "So I've heard," he said with a smile that went all the way up to his eyes. "So how'd Liam manage to pick you up?"

I choked on my water and half of it came shooting out of my mouth. Zayn looked highly amused, and a little grossed out.

"Liam did not "pick me up". I actually just moved in here yesterday."

"And he's already made his move on you? What did he say, "did you know I'm the real Liam Payne?"" Zayn did a terrible impersonation of Liam's accent, and I let out a loud snort of laughter.

"No, he didn't say that. But now I kind of wish he did." I was really at a loss as to why Liam would ever introduce himself as the "real Liam Payne". Who did that?

"Wow, he's mixing up his material. What moves did he pull with you?" Zayn was smirking now, and had turned the volume down on the TV.

"He didn't try anything, except blow me off twice in a matter of about 16 hours." I set down my glass and tucked my legs underneath me.

"Can't say I see that working out well."

I shook my head. "You have no idea."

Liam came over to us then, and draped himself over the couch arm next to Zayn. "Did you want me to take you back to your apartment now, Zoe?"

I looked from Liam to Zayn, settling my gaze on his pretty, smiling eyes. "Nah, I think I'm good here for a while, actually."

Zayn smiled.

-x-


	3. normality

**hey all (:**

**chapter three is here, and it's definitely an important one!**

**hope you guys enjoy, and rate and review, actually means the world!**

**x**

normality.

-x-

I'd been in London for a week now, and I'd done little else but sit on my couch, play my guitar, and spend most afternoons perched on a stool in Zayn's kitchen.

"I need a job so badly," I sighed, as Zayn and Harry lay on the couch playing on the PS3.

"Hmmph," Harry groaned, and threw his leg over onto Zayn's lap.

"How do all you boys do it?" I asked, placing my empty mug in the sink. "You just go to these "meetings" every morning and then come home and play video games for the rest of the day. This is hardly fair."

Zayn shrugged. "Those meetings are very important."

I still wasn't allowed to know what actually happened at these meetings, and it was even worse if I brought them up around Liam. I'd quickly learned all the boys' roles in their group, and it was painfully clear Liam was Mr Serious. Every morning he would knock on my door and ask how I was, and I half suspected he was waiting for something to change in the way I answered. I'd grown so accustomed to his visits, as soon as I heard the knock at ten o'clock on the dot, I'd simply unlock the door and go back to whatever it was I had been doing and wait for him to barge in like he always did.

"Aye Zo, can you pass me my glass, please?" Zayn asked, reaching out his arm and opening and closing his hand a few times, like a baby wanting to be picked up. I walked up behind the couch and placed the glass in his open hand.

"Cheers," he said, still not taking his eyes off the game. "Right, Harry, on your right!"

They were playing Call of Duty by the looks of things, and I rolled my eyes before messing up Harry's hair, just to annoy him. It made me think of back home with my brothers, how at one stage they had all been obsessed with the game. That was a few years ago now though, as Christian, Lucas and Daniel were all over 20, despite hardly acting like it. Harry's hair reminded me so much of Dan's, and over the past week, he'd become used to me walking over and playing with it every now and again. "I'm going to straighten this one of these days," I announced.

Zayn let out a laugh, but Harry looked up at me absolutely horrified. "You do and you die." He said in his pompous Cheshire accent. I'd finally remembered where all the boys were from in England, which was way they all sounded so different. Liam was from Wolverhampton, meaning him and Harry had the most posh accents out of all the boys. Louis' was different, and less articulate because he was from Doncaster, and Zayn's was sort of similar although he was from Bradford, meaning every sentence he said had to contain either "aye" or "ya know". And little Niall, of course, was the leprechaun of the group, all the way from Ireland. I still didn't fully understand how that worked; the same way I didn't fully understand what they did every day to support themselves.

"I'm failing miserably at trying to maintain a lifestyle I really can't afford," I grumbled to no one in particular. "How do you find a job in this city?"

"We're hardly the people to ask," Harry said, nodding his head towards the TV.

"Right, that's it," I said with new found determination, "I'm going to find a job, right now."

Zayn and Harry looked amused. "I mean it!" I said forcefully. "Don't wait up!" I swung the door open to find Liam standing there, his hand outstretched to the space the handle once occupied.

"Oh, hi Zo," Liam seemed surprised. "Where are you going?"

"To make money!" I called over my shoulder to him as I sauntered down the corridor.

"Honestly Harry, she spends a few hours with you and she's already off to join a brothel?" I heard Liam say as he walked into the apartment.

I ignored him.

-x-

"I am amazing. I even surprise myself sometimes." I announced loudly as I walked into Zayn's apartment.

"Well this I have to hear," Louis said, jumping up from the couch and straight on top of Harry, his chin balancing on his palms.

"Louis!" Harry complained, "My balls!" Harry's face twisted in pain and Niall laughed.

"It's the most action you've gotten in a while, you shouldn't be having a whinge."

I cringed at that little gem of information. "Ew, but moving on. I am now employed!"

"Already?" Liam asked, "You've only been gone a couple of hours!"

"It actually only took fifteen minutes to find the job; the rest of the time I was walking around the city. This place is bloody huge." I quickly covered my mouth with my hand. "I can't believe I'm already sounding like you."

"Oh bullocks!" Harry yelled, apparently recovered from his ball issue.

"Where are you working?" Zayn asked, sitting at the kitchen bench and leaning forward. I sat down opposite him and set my bag down. "This little café not too far from here. I used to be a waitress back home anyway, so I know what I'm doing. The owners seemed nice and agreed pretty much straight away."

"Hear that, Liam? A CAFÉ." Harry articulated the word extra clearly.

"Thank you mate, I do have ears."

Harry stared at him blankly for a few seconds. "See? A CAFÉ."

Louis grabbed a pillow and attempted to suffocate Harry with it.

I turned to Liam and smiled sarcastically. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not becoming a lady of the night anytime soon." Liam flushed bright red and stumbled over words that sounded like an apology.

I rolled my eyes and slid off the stool. Niall stepped into the room then, buttoning up his jeans. Without looking up, he said "Don't go in the bathroom for a while there lads, it won't end well." All the boys groaned, but didn't seem too surprised. I was the one left staring with my mouth open.

"Oh, sorry Missy," Niall said, pulling his polo shirt down. Ever since our first meeting, when I had gotten angry with him for calling me Missy, he would refer to me constantly as just that. It was past the hurtful stage now, and I'd grown to accept it. I simply shook my head and plonked myself down on the couch next to Louis and Harry. Louis was still looking quite comfortable on top of Harry, and had an arm slung casually around Harry's shoulders. The first thing I had noticed about the two of them was how close they were. I'd even asked Zayn whether they were gay.

Louis' phone rang and the boys sighed. "This is call number five now lads!" Harry yelled just as Louis answered.

"Hi Mum," Louis said, covering Harry's mouth with his spare hand. I laughed; this was another thing I'd grown accustom too. Louis was always on the phone to his Mum. It was quite possibly the cutest thing about him. From what I had picked up by listening to the other boys, Louis' parents divorced a couple of years ago, leaving his Mum with his four younger sisters back at home in Doncaster. I'd seen him write a letter and stuff it in an envelope of money addressed to Doncaster the other day, and I knew it must have been for his Mum.

"Oh, you got it? That's good. Did Lottie have fun on the school trip?"

Harry pulled faces at Louis, trying to make him laugh. He even yelled out "Louis, put your pants back on!"

Louis whacked him in the face before continuing to talk on the phone. After a few minutes of Harry continuously poking him in the ribs, Louis said his goodbyes and hung up.

Louis looked to Harry expectantly, and after a few seconds of an intense stare-off, Harry flipped Louis off his lap and he landed with a hard thud on the ground.

Louis cried out in pain. "That actually really hurt!"

Harry leaned off the couch so that his face was only millimetres from Louis' and made baby sounds at him. I looked around the room and saw Niall and Liam arm wrestling, and Zayn almost falling asleep on the kitchen bench watching them. Louis and Harry were currently wrestling on the floor, and I couldn't believe this is what we were doing on a Saturday night.

"Guys!" I yelled above the noise. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at me; Liam had just pinned Niall's arm down for the tenth time and Harry was straddling Louis, while Zayn had just hit his head on the counter after passing out for a second.

"Is this seriously what we're going to do on a Saturday night?" The boys looked around at each other before nodding simultaneously. "Guys!" I complained. "Let's go out! Let's just do something, for God's sake!" I stood up and crossed my arms. I even surprised myself by stomping my foot. Liam raised his eyebrows, whilst Louis stood up next to me and mimicked my expression. Within seconds, Harry was up on my other side doing the same thing. I looked at him incredulously. "Harry, you can't go out yet."

"Shhhh," he said, raising a finger to his lips.

"Zoe, I don't think that's such a good idea." Liam said, shaking his head. What a surprise, he was saying no.

"Niall, Zayn," I pleaded, "Come on, let's do something, anything!" They both looked to Liam and shook their heads as well.

"Not tonight, Zo." Zayn said, going back to sleeping on the kitchen bench.

"You're five teenage boys!" I cried, then quickly looked over to Louis, "No offense Lou, but you are." Despite having recently turned twenty, Louis was going to forever be a teenager.

"None taken," Louis replied, "And yeah!"

"We're not going out." Liam said definitely.

"No, you're not going out. I am." I hissed, walking out of the apartment and slamming the door behind me.

I was always storming out their doors.

-x-

I had the hugest headache when I woke up the next morning at the wrong end of my bed. I was still fully dressed from last night, and I shifted uncomfortably. I heard my phone buzzing on the bedside table, and I groaned as I went to reach it. The screen of my phone was completely covered with at least ten messages from Liam, Zayn and Louis. Each of them were asking how I was feeling and whether they could come over. How did they know what had happened last night? Not even I did! I groggily replied to a text from Zayn, saying I was awake and feeling alright, and that I just had a sore head. _Don't come over, _I typed, _I'll come to you once I'm showered and dressed. _

I sent it and then scrolled through previous messages from the night before. As I did, my mouth dropped open. There were messages to and from Liam throughout the early hours of this morning. And I, in my obvious drunken state, had asked Liam why he hated me so much. I noticed there was no reply, and I went into panic mode. I quickly scrolled through my recent calls list, and discovered that after I had sent that message, Liam had called me within the same minute. The call had lasted 20 minutes. My body felt numb at the fact I couldn't remember any of the conversation we'd had. All I did remember was going out to club called Fabric, and the rest of the night was a bit of a blur.

I rubbed my eyes and noticed mascara residue come off onto the back of my hands and I groaned. _It's going to be such a long day, _I thought to myself as I got up and walked to the bathroom.

I spent half an hour in the shower, and after getting out, another 5 minutes just brushing my teeth, before taking half an hour again to dry my hair. I felt immediately better afterwards, and walked out to the kitchen to make myself feel even better with a cup of coffee.

I started up the coffee machine, and despite it being 1 in the afternoon, I decided to begin my morning ritual of watching the music channel while sitting on the couch with my coffee. As I made my way to the sofa with my steaming mug, the presenter said "And here's a favourite now for you all, One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful!" I quickly turned the volume up and eagerly sat down. Finally, I was going to actually witness what had my cousin obsessed. As the video started, I cocked my head, noticing something oddly familiar about the backs of the five boys throwing rocks off a cliff and walking along the beach, and I leaned forward. After a few seconds, a close up of Liam's face appeared on the screen and I screamed, spilling coffee everywhere. He had longer hair there, but it was unmistakeably him. I crawled onto the ground and sat only centimetres away from the television as a close up of Harry appeared. I screamed again. And then as the chorus hit, despite me already suspecting to see the other boys, when I did I screamed yet again. I watched the remainder of the video whilst grinding my teeth, and as soon as it was over, I was running out the door and found myself outside of Liam's, knocking furiously.

He answered within seconds. "Zo! Thank God you're here, I was about to get Steve to break your door down!"

I let out a growl and pushed against his chest, driving him back into the apartment.

By the look on his face, he had no idea what had hit him.

-x-

**bit of a cliff-hanger, but next chapter is definitely a turning point for everyone ;)**

**see you next week!**


	4. revelations

**hey again all!**

**chapter four is here, hope you enjoy it :)**

revelations.

-x-

"I can't believe you!" I screamed, pounding his chest again.

"Zoe! Stop, what are you talking about?" Liam cried, gripping my arms.

"You. Are. So. Dead!" I breathed heavily, trying to break free of his grasp. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you have to keep me in the dark this whole time?"

Liam's expression changed then, and I could tell he knew what was going on.

"This isn't about last night, is it?" he asked quietly.

"No it bloody well is not!" I screamed, "This is about the music video I just happened to witness about a minute ago!" I ripped my arms out of his hands.

"Look, Zoe, I'm sorry, but -"

"No!" I yelled at him, covering his mouth with my hands. "This isn't your time to speak right now. This is Liam's listening time!" I was bordering on being delirious, and my head was absolutely throbbing. Niall and Zayn must have heard the commotion from down the corridor, as they came barging in, tumbling over each other's feet.

"What's going on here?" Niall asked feverishly and Zayn nodded in agreement.

"You two wait, I'm getting to you!" I turned back to Liam and grabbed the checked shirt he was so found of. I pulled him closer to me.

"Can you imagine how _embarrassing _it is to find out the five boys who are my only friends in this damn city are lying to my face blatantly and hiding who they are from me?"

"Zo, it's really not like that," Zayn said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Not your turn yet, Zayn!" I yelled at him, and he quickly removed his hand. "What were you thinking? How did you expect this to go?"

"Zoe, please." Liam said, pulling my hands off his shirt. "I don't know what I was thinking. It was just nice having someone treat us like the normal boys we are for once."

"Well, I'm definitely about to treat you differently in a second!" I said, turning away from him.

Niall giggled and I chucked him a look of death. He shut up. I honestly didn't know what to think. I didn't think this was usually how girls reacted to them; they were One Direction after all. But at the moment, that didn't mean Jack to me. I was hurt. The boys were the only people I'd actually spoken to over the past week, and they knew I had no one else. I hadn't started school yet, so I didn't know anyone from there. My family were halfway around the world, and to top things off, I couldn't even remember how I made it to my bed last night. This really could not have come at a worse time.

"So this is the reason for all the secretiveness?" I asked in a small voice; my bravado was fading quickly.

Liam nodded. "Yes."

"And the meetings?"

"Yes."

"And not being able to go out?"

"Yes."

"And the constant checking up on me, making sure I hadn't working it out yet?"

"Yes."

"And the mob of screaming girls?"

Liam sighed. "Yes."

I walked over to the couch and sat down forcefully, tucking my knees up to my chin.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Liam asked.

Now it was my turn for short answers. "No."

Zayn mumbled something about going to get Louis and Harry and ran off quickly, leaving Niall to stand around looking lost.

"Do you want to go back to your apartment?"

"No."

"Can I get you something to eat?" Liam was still asking questions.

"No."

"Are you going to calm down?"

"No."

Louis and Harry came running in with Zayn at that moment, as if someone had died. They both sat down on either side of me, and Louis put an arm around my shoulders. "It's okay, babe. I'll still treat you the same, I swear. It'll be tough, but I think I can do it."

I let out a small snort of laughter and swatted his arm away half-heartedly.

"Oh, shut up, Louis." Liam said, running a hand through his hair and exhaling loudly. "Why is it me that's the bad guy?" He asked after a moment, sauntering over to us. "Why does Louis get the cute little laugh and smile, and I get verbally assaulted?" He bent down so that we were eye level.

"Liam stop, I'm done talking about this."

"Good," he said, "Because now it's Zoe's listening time."

I stared at him icily.

"Do you remember anything about last night, hey Zo? Like all the messages? The phone call? The fact that you waltz in downstairs at 4 this morning, completely off your face, and guess who was the first person to come down and get you?"

I was chewing on my lip nervously as he continued.

"Me, bloody me. Steve called me, saying you were downstairs and refusing to go up with him. Apparently you were saying "get Liam, get Liam". And me being the complete _idiot_ that I am came down and got you, carried you up the bloody stairs because you refused to take the lift higher than the tenth floor, and put you into bed, after sitting with you until you fell asleep."

I couldn't breathe.

"Mind you, that was at 6 in the bloody morning!"

"You're saying bloody a lot." I replied quietly, and Liam snorted.

"You're _bloody_ right I am! You know, I don't think I've been this angry in a while. You get to remember what you want, Zoe. But I remember what happened."

I sat silently, biting my fingernail and hugging my knees closer to my chest. My head was pounding, and I wasn't sure whether it was an affect of last night's drinking or anger.

Liam threw his hands up and let out a sarcastic laugh. "All right, that's it. Out lads, I need you all out. And take her with you." He flapped a hand in my direction, before storming off into what I thought must be his bedroom. I didn't wait for the other boys to say anything; I just got up off the couch and practically ran for the door, slamming it loudly behind me.

I hoped to God Liam heard.

-x-

"This is getting ridiculous," Louis told me as we lay on my couch.

"Don't start, Lou," I grumbled. It had been three days since my fight with Liam, and things had been awkward for the boys. I felt sorry for them, but I knew I would never beat Liam for their affections. I had been seeing them less and less lately, and it was really starting to bug me. I hadn't seen Niall since Sunday either, and the last time I'd seen Harry and Zayn was our brief, uncomfortable encounter in the lift yesterday morning. It was now Wednesday night, and I'd just been at work all day. I was hardly in the mood for Liam talk, but that was all any of the boys seemed to bring up these days. Out of all of them, I think I was missing Zayn the most. While Louis was definitely the one I was closest too, he was quickly becoming one of my best friends, and it was different to the way I felt about Zayn. Zayn had messaged and called me a few times, and of course I'd spoken to him on the phone yesterday for his birthday, but I'd be lying if I said it was the same. It also didn't help that the boys were super busy at the moment, and I only just found out that in over a week, they were starting a promotional tour around England and Ireland. I was in two minds about that. Part of me was rejoicing, as there would be no more awkward encounters and it gave me a chance to get away from the craziness that was the Liam Saga. Of course, on the other hand, I was partially dreading it, because it meant that my only friends were leaving me for the week I started school, and I knew I was going to need them.

"Can you please just go and talk to him?" Louis was still going on about Liam.

"Lou!" I said, exasperated. "What do you want me to do? Don't you remember the absolute killing he gave me? He threw us all out of his flat! I wouldn't know what to say to him."

"You two are just too stubborn. Like a couple of bloody mules, the pair of you!"

I sighed and got up, grabbing a bag of chips from an overhead cupboard. I offered them to Louis who took a generous handful while sending a text message. "Oi, can you come with me for a second?" Lou asked, standing up and twirling me around to face the door.

"Um, sure? Where are we going?" I was still holding the packet of chips.

"My apartment. Harry and I have a surprise for you." Louis grinned mischievously.

"If it's matching onesies, I can't say I'm surprised."

Louis rolled his eyes and dragged me out the door.

-x-

"Alright, you ready for this?" Louis asked a minute later, in some sort of accent I was not familiar with.

"Have to admit, I'm a little worried," I said, munching on a chip out of the packet I was still holding. We were standing outside the door of his and Harry's apartment.

"NOW!" He yelled as he opened the door and pushed me inside. Suddenly, Harry was running towards me at lightening speed. He dodged around me, and then leaped out of the door to an awaiting Louis, who slammed it firmly shut behind him. I heard the click of the lock, and I knew then I was trapped inside.

"Louis! Harry!" I cried, "What the hell is going on?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walk in from the bathroom.

"What are you doing here?" An angry voice said.

I glared. "This was not voluntary, trust me."

Liam look unimpressed. "There's the door, nothing's stopping you."

"It's locked." I replied curtly.

Liam's eyes widened, and he walked over to shake the handle a few times. "Harry! Louis! I'm going to bloody kill you!"

"Finally, something we can agree on," I mumbled.

"You two sort your shit out, otherwise we're never opening this door again!" Came Harry's muffled voice.

"We'll be back in half an hour, and we expect improvement!" Louis added, banging on the door to add force to his words.

Liam turned and eyed me suspiciously.

"Oh please, I had nothing to with this." I walked over to the other side of the room and leaned against the window, grabbing my phone out of my pocket.

_SOS! _I wrote to Zayn, _Harry and Louis just trapped me in their apartment with Liam. Come get me!_

I sent it and shoved another handful of chips into my mouth. Liam was sitting with his back against the door, his knees spread and his arms were folded across his chest.

He was wearing another friggin' checked shirt.

Zayn messaged back, and after reading it I threw my phone onto the couch, beyond frustrated.

_Sorry babe, Nailler and I were in on it too xx _was what I read, and I didn't appreciate it in the slightest. Death was going to come to all members of One Direction.

"What are we doing, Zoe?" Liam asked after about ten minutes of silence.

"Well, we were not speaking to each other. But now you decided to break that one."

"Give it a rest, would you? Just this once, so we can get out of this bloody place. I feel dirty just touching the walls."

"Fine," I agreed after a minute. "But I just want you to know, that even though we've only known each other a short while, you and the boys are all I have here. It hurt that I was the only one not to know about you."

Liam nodded slowly. "I know, it was wrong. It was a stupid idea, and you have no clue how much I regret it now."

I nodded as well. "And I'm sorry I wasn't grateful about what you did for me the other night. It could've been much worse if I didn't have someone like you to look after me."

"It's okay. I would have preferred a night of little sleep opposed to knowing you weren't in the apartment down the hall from me."

I looked down at my feet, blushing.

"You drive me crazy, do you know that?" Liam said with a laugh. "I've never met someone so opinionated or as stubborn as you in my whole life. And I live with four boys, pretty much."

"That's because you're just the bloody same." I replied, "Louis called us mules before!"

"Little bastard."

I grinned and checked the time on my phone, noticing that Louis and Harry would be back in about five minutes. The craziest idea struck me.

"Liam, how do you feel about playing a little joke on Harry and Lou?"

"What did you have in mind?"

-x-

"How do you think they've gone?" Liam and I heard Harry ask approximately seven minutes later.

"Hopefully kissed and made up, if we're lucky." Louis said back, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from giggling - it was too ironic.

Liam and I were standing on Harry's bed, which was the closet room to the part of the corridor Harry and Louis were now walking past.

"One, two," Liam whispered, bracing himself against the headboard of the bed and the wall, "Three!"

We immediately started jumping on the bed, and Liam banged the headboard against the wall a few times. "Oh, Liam!" I screamed, trying not to laugh. Liam was red from holding in his own laughter. He groaned a few times.

"What the hell?" I heard Harry ask, and the footsteps stopped.

"Are they…?" Louis sounded flabbergasted.

"And in my bed, the bloody pricks!"

"LIIIIIIAAAAM!" I screamed to stop myself from laughing.

Harry and Louis burst into the apartment and into Harry's room, and I fell to the floor, weak from laughter. Liam stood up straight on the bed, placed a hand to his hip and bowed. "Thankyou, thankyou."

"I can't bloody believe you two," Harry said, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair.

"You love us!" I teased, grabbing Louis' hand as he pulled me up.

"So are we over the little feud you had going on?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I guess we are." Liam replied, hopping down off the bed.

"LOUIS AND HARRY SAVE THE DAY AGAIN!" Louis announced, and he and Harry bumped chests before hugging each other passionately.

"I one day hope to find a man that would love me half as much as that," I said to Liam, pointing at the show in front of us. Liam laughed uncomfortably and shook his head. "Yeah, good luck with that one."

I patted his chest. "So, tell me, have you always been so doom and gloom? Or was that only to keep me in the dark?"

"Only to keep you in the dark. I'm loads of fun. I'm an animal."

I laughed hysterically as Liam growled.

-x-

also, just another big thankyou for all the support (:

rate, review, favourite, and just tell me what you guys think!

see you next weekend!

x


	5. blessings

**hey again guys,**

**hope you all had a great week :)**

**chapter five is here, so you know what to do ;)**

blessings.

-x-

"Is this really necessary?" I hissed, glancing around to see if anyone was looking at us suspiciously. Hell, if I were on the other side of this charade, I would be looking at us strangely.

"Yes, it is."

"When I said I wanted to go out, I didn't know it was going to be this much trouble. We could have stayed home with a DVD."

"Now you tell me this, aye?" Zayn stopped in the middle of the street, holding his arms out.

"I'm sorry, but I had no idea going out would have to involve this ridiculous hoodie, hat and sunnies ensemble you've got going on. Who do you think you are, bloody Snoop Dogg?"

I stared at Zayn, speechless. It was the middle of my second week in London, and I'd managed to talk Zayn into taking me out. Over the past week, after all the awkwardness from Liam and I had subsided, I'd been spending more and more time with Zayn. I'd be lying if I said our conversations hadn't been flirty, and part of me couldn't believe that someone like Zayn was interested in someone like me. He was a popstar; a pin-up boy, and the reason behind teenage girls screams and tears. And he was standing right in front of me, wearing a disguise just so he could take me out to dinner. Stuff like this just didn't happen to a girl from Adelaide.

"We're not going back now. We made it this far, we're sticking it out!"

"You sound like a self-help book," I responded with a giggle, and Zayn shook his head. We walked further down the street until we came across a fancy looking restaurant. I eyed the menu outside, and while my stomach grumbled, I could feel my bank account ache even more.

"Come on," I said, grabbing his arm and attempting to drag him along behind me. Zayn pulled back with the double the force I was. I crashed into his side with a loud "Oof!"

"This place is way too expensive, Zayn! And I'm almost flat broke!" Despite me working everyday, the pay was hardly enough for me to splurge on trivial things.

"Zo, do you really think I'm going to let you pay for tonight?" Zayn seemed legitimately surprised, and he narrowed his dark eyes at me.

I decided to play this up. "Oh, you're going to pay for me? What is this, a date or something?"

Zayn smirked and opened the restaurant door for me. After surveying the inside and noticing it was packed full of middle-aged couples and a few families, Zayn took off his hat, sunglasses and hoodie, leaving him in a tight white t-shirt with grey jeans and his navy pair of kicks. I felt slightly light headed. Zayn spoke to the waiter and lead me to our table, before pulling out my chair for me.

"So this is a date?" I asked slyly.

Zayn sat down on his own chair and winked. "Don't tell the lads."

I couldn't tell if he was serious or not, so I picked up my menu and buried my confused expression into it. After ordering our food, Zayn looked at me seriously.

"What's going to happen next week?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked back, setting down my glass.

"Are you seriously going to go to school?"

My jaw dropped into my lap. "Zayn, school's the whole reason why I'm here. I can't not go!"

"Is Law really going to be the rest of your life?" Zayn was in disbelief.

"Well, yes. I think it is." I couldn't look him in the eye, because I knew I was lying. Law was what my parents wanted me to do. I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And it was hard to sit back and spectate my five close friends live out their dream, knowing exactly what direction they were going in. Ironic. I wasn't bitter about it, of course. They'd work ridiculously hard and taken everything in their stride, but it was becoming difficult to get excited about my Law degree.

"Don't bullshit me, Zo." Obviously, Zayn wasn't buying it either.

"What do you want me to say then, Zayn?" I asked with a sigh. "There's not much I can really do about it now. I start in under a week."

"Look, the lads and I have been thinking," he said, playing with his hands.

"Oh, this will be good," I said with a sarcastic roll of my eyes. "I thought we'd been over this: you guys thinking ends with me and Liam trapped in a room together."

"And look how well that turned out! You two got over your little rift, and things are so much better now!"

"Zayn, Harry had to buy a new bedhead because we broke it _pretending_ to have sex." I replied shortly, and Zayn covered his mouth with his hand and looked away. I realised a second later when the waiter placed my pasta in front of me that he'd everything I'd just said.

I rubbed my forehead in embarrassment, and kicked Zayn under the table.

"Ow!" he couldn't help but yelp, and the waiter eyed him even more strangely before making a speedy exit.

"Well, be that as it may," Zayn said after we'd gotten our laughter out, "We've been thinking. How'd you feel about coming on tour with us?"

I choked on my pasta and Zayn had to pour water down my throat to dislodge it.

"On _tour_ with you? Are you insane?" I replied in a hoarse voice.

"Why not, Zo? Don't tell me you're not interested, I'll know you're lying."

"Zayn, come on. You can't be serious." This was a joke. A huge one. Or maybe I was being Punk'd. Where the bloody hell was Ashton Kutcher then? Or maybe it was Louis. Bloody Louis. I looked around the restaurant and checked under the table.

"What are you doing?" Zayn asked, forgetting what he'd been saying seconds earlier.

"Looking for Louis," I replied, glancing behind me.

"I'm going to ignore that," Zayn said. "And yes, we are serious. We've even spoken to management and Steve, who absolutely loves you, by the way. Our parents are even happy with it; they reckon you're a good influence. And it's just a small promotional tour, it's only for a week."

"Wait, hold up." I said, placing my hands flat on the table. "You've spoken to management? And Steve loves me? And your _parents_ are happy? I've never met your parents!"

"We've told them about you. They like the idea of a sensible Australian girl calming us down."

"Sensible?" I echoed.

"Just say yes, Zo. I promise you'll love it!"

"Zayn, what am I going to say to _my _parents?"

"That you're on tour?" he replied, like I'd just asked the stupidest question in the world.

"Oh yes, hello Mum and Dad, don't mind me, but I'm dropping out of the expensive University I flew halfway around the world for to go on tour with five teenage English boys. Have a lovely night!" I was being slightly dramatic, but I had to prove a point. "Did that seem like it would go well?"

Zayn shrugged. "Would work for my family."

I shook my head. "It's not happening. I can tell you now, it's not happening."

"So you're just going to stay in your apartment, by yourself for the whole week. How?"

"Zayn, that's what I had planned to do before I met you all, anyway. I'm prepared for this." I was lying blatantly again. Of course I didn't want to spend the whole week by myself, and I was freaking out about it. I knew I was being slightly irrational about it, considering it was just one week, but after becoming so used to having the boys around, I didn't know how to cope by myself. I don't know how I thought I was going to do it when I first moved here. Meeting the boys had been a blessing, and it was going to be hard to live without, considering I still didn't know my way around the city.

"We don't want you to be by yourself here. I swear to God, Liam almost went into cardiac arrest when he realised you'd be alone while we were gone."

"Liam? Worrying about something? Are you serious? Should we call a doctor?"

"Not the point, Zo."

"Zayn, I'm eighteen. I can take care of myself."

"If we get back to a repeat of that Saturday night, I will throttle you myself."

"I promised I wouldn't do that again." I said, looking down at my almost empty bowl of pasta.

Zayn nodded. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"What, walk me to my door and everything?"

"Don't push your luck," Zayn said with a laugh.

-x-

We were giggling ridiculously as we rode the elevator upstairs. Zayn was smiling down at me and I was recounting how I'd reacted when Louis forced me to watch one of their Alan Carr interviews. I was in tears just thinking about it again, and was trying to talk Zayn into doing his bum dance for me. We'd been so caught up in our conversation, we didn't notice that as the elevator doors swung open on the 14th floor, someone was staring right at us.

"Oh, sorry," Liam said in a surprised voice, stepping to the side to let us pass.

"Hey mate," Zayn said with a huge grin still.

Liam forced a smile. "Hey Zayn. Zoe." Why were we back to being awkward?

"We'll see ya later, alright?" Zayn said, dragging me along behind him and towards his apartment door. Liam gave a small wave then stepped into the lift, and as the doors closed I heard a loud _bang!_

It almost sounded like someone punching the lift wall.

-x-

I was in absolute hysterics as I sat in Zayn's apartment. After days of persuading, he had done the little bum dance he did on Alan Carr, and I was making him and the other boys sit through me watching all their interviews and tour diaries on Youtube. It was the boys' last night before kicking off their tour tomorrow, and I had to admit, I was slightly anxious to see them leave, especially after watching these videos and realising how hilarious they all were. Thankfully, their little tour started with them playing at the Wembley Arena, meaning they still had tomorrow here in London, and naturally, they were dragging me along. I had to call up work and come up with a fake excuse for not being able to go, and it wasn't like I couldn't lie to the boys and say they forced me into working still, because Louis and Zayn had to be with me when I rang. I now had to be at the Wembley at 5 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.

"Have you even told anyone about us yet?" Zayn asked, and I was surprised he'd brought our "relationship" up with the boys around. It wasn't even like I could actually call it a relationship of sorts. We'd been out to dinner a few times, and he liked to hold my hand whenever we'd been alone for more than five minutes. It was impossible to be by ourselves with the other boys around. We hadn't really spoken about where it was going, anyway. And for the moment, I think we were both happy with something more casual. One person who didn't seem happy, however, was Liam. He was closest to Zayn out of all the boys, and I think it was starting to get to him how Zayn and I were spending more time together, especially when he was the reason why we met.

In response to Zayn's question, I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish a few times.

"Yeah, Missy," interjected Niall, "Was everyone impressed by your choice of company?"

Oh, they were talking about them as a whole. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not really. Mum asked if I'd made friends the other day, and I'd said that there were some really nice guys around my age living in the complex. She sounded more concerned than enthused, to be honest." She'd actually asked if I knew where a chemist was to buy birth control. _"Don't worry, I won't tell your father!" _she had said while I stood there speechless. Then something hit me.

"I can't believe I haven't told her yet!" I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand.

The boys looked at me like I was crazy, and they had a valid point.

I quickly checked the time, and after checking the world clock on my phone, I noticed that it was 8:30 in the morning back in Adelaide. _Perfect,_ I thought, and hurriedly sent a message to Isabella, telling her to get on Skype. She responded in seconds, saying that she'd be on within a minute.

"Harry, give me the laptop and hide behind the couch! All of you!"

The boys continued to look at me as though I was crazy.

"Should we call Steve?" Liam asked, glancing sideways to the boys. Louis nodded furiously.

"Now!" I yelled at them, signing on to Skype after Harry placed the laptop on my crossed legs. "I'm about to talk to my cousin, and she's obsessed with you guys!"

"How old is she?" Harry asked curiously.

"Thirteen, so lose the smile, Styles."

Harry got behind the couch, and after a second so did the other boys.

"Right, so I'm going to introduce you all individually," I said, planning it out in my head. "Harry, you'll be last. You're her favourite."

"What a surprise!" Niall said with a laugh, "All the young ones always like Harry."

"It's the baby face. It's gotta be." Zayn replied.

"Hey! Harry's a man!" Louis argued, and Harry thanked him sincerely.

Suddenly, Isabella appeared on my screen, and after a few minutes of hello's and how are you's, I told her I had a huge surprise.

"Hey, Bell, I have a friend I want to introduce you too. Zayn?"

Zayn's head popped up from behind the couch. "Hi Isabella, vas happenin'?"

Isabella screamed hysterically. "ZO, ZAYN FROM ONE DIRECTION IS BEHIND YOU!"

I laughed and so did Zayn. Unfortunately, so did the other boys.

"Is there someone else with you?" Isabella asked, not taking her eyes off Zayn.

I bit my lip and Zayn played with a loose piece of my hair. Isabella's eyes bulged even more.

"Lou? Nialler? Liam?" The three boys popped up right on cue with huge smiles and a loud, synchronised "HI!"

Isabella screamed again, and I could swear she looked like she was about to cry. "ZO! HOW DO YOU KNOW THEM?" she yelled, her face going red. I held up a finger; signalling her to wait. I then noticed Harry crawling around the side of the couch, and within seconds, he stuck his face right into the camera on the laptop.

Isabella fell of her chair.

"Whoops, gotta fainter here!" Harry said, looking a little guilty.

"Don't flatter yourself, Haz." Zayn replied.

"Bell? You alright?" I asked, grabbing Harry's curly head and moving it away from the camera so I could see properly.

"HARRY! OHMYGOD, HARRY!"

"Hello Isabella," Harry waved and flashed a dimpled grin. Isabella clambered back on her seat and moved her face even closer to the camera.

"I'm coming over. I'm going to force Mum to buy me a ticket. I'm coming to see you." She wasn't even talking to me now, I was 99.9% sure the last part was directed to Harry.

"I can't believe you're friends with One Direction. What are they like?" Oh, now she wanted to talk to me.

"Bell, they're right here. Ask them yourself!"

Isabella squealed, and I handed Harry the laptop. "Here, you guys talk for a bit. I'm knackered. I need sleep." It was only about 10:15, but I hadn't slept properly in days because of worrying about school. I said my goodbyes and waved to Isabella, then hugged each of the boys.

"We'll see you tomorrow!" Harry said, pecking my cheek softly. I heard Isabella mumble something in the background.

"Yeah, we'll be the one's on stage." Lou added, gripping me in what could have been an army hold.

"Louis, I. Can't. Breathe."

"Later Missy," Niall said, prying Louis off me.

I got to Liam, and we did a weird little dance around each other, not knowing which direction the other was going to go. Eventually we managed to work it out, and he bid me goodnight.

"Well, that was awkward," Louis said loudly, and Harry nodded at him.

Niall farted. "Sorry all, had to ease the tension."

Niall Horan, forever the most considerate person I'll ever meet. I laughed and waved to them, while Zayn stood up and walked with me out the door.

"Promise you'll be there tomorrow?" he asked as I unlocked my apartment.

"Zayn, I said I'd be there. So I will."

"Good, it'll be nice to have you there, to see what we do."

"I'm looking forward to it," I replied, opening the door.

Zayn smiled and leaned down, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

I grinned wildly, and whatever words Zayn was about to say were lost, as suddenly Liam was walking past with the sourest look on his face.

"What's up his arse?" I asked, staring at Liam's back as he disappeared into his apartment without so much as acknowledging us.

"A stick. And it's pointy and sideways," was Zayn's reply.

I watched Liam slam the door behind him. "Right."

-x-

**just a quick side note, the boys have just announced an australian tour, so i'll definitely be incorporating that into the story at some stage.**

**have a good weekend all (:**

**x**


	6. noises

**hey again everyone (:**

**hope you've all had a good week; probably better than mine,**

**considering tickets for the boys' australian tour went on sale yesterday,**

**and i didn't get any :(**

**i am now going to have to live vicariously through Zoe.**

**yes, it has come to that.**

noises.

-x-

"You can't be serious," I found myself saying to a security guard outside of the Wembley.

"I'm sorry, but I am. I can't let you in right now."

Trust me to not be able to get into the boys' concert. It was now closing in on 6 o'clock, and I'd been arguing with this security guard for almost a half hour. I'd showed him my set of keys belonging to the same complex as the boys. I'd even shown him our text messages. It didn't help that they weren't answering their phones, obviously because they were rehearsing. Hundreds of girls were already starting to line up for the 8 o'clock start, and I was beginning to fear I wouldn't be making it in to see them tonight. To top things off, I was absolutely freezing. Because I knew it would be hot with everyone in the arena, I dressed down and was only wearing jeans and a loose tank. My feet were the only things that were warm, because I was wearing a pair of Niall's Supras. My arms were slowly turning blue, and I was about to force the guard to drive me to the hospital and admit me for hypothermia.

Suddenly, my phone started vibrating in my hand, and after checking the ID to see "Zayn Malik" flashing on the screen, I jumped up and down in front of the security guard. I waved the phone in his face. "See?" I said before answering.

"Zo! Where the hell are ya?" Zayn's slightly breathless voice said.

"Zayn, ohmygod, I'm stuck outside. Security won't let me in!"

"What? Seriously? Christ Zo, this would only happen to you. Back when Danielle, Eleanor and Caroline would come, this never happened!"

"What?" I asked, confused as to who the three girls he mentioned were. I suddenly felt a pang of jealously.

"Not important now, Zo. Put Security on the phone."

I handed the guard my phone. "Zayn wants to talk to you."

He shook his head. "Just voice doesn't work for me."

I gaped at him. "Seriously, mate? You've got issues."

I put the phone back to my ear. "Zayn, he said voice isn't good enough. You need to come and get me."

Zayn swore loudly. "Alright, look. I have to practice my solo in about ten seconds, so I'm sending another of the lads. Punch the security guard for me, babe."

Zayn hung up, and I grinned mockingly at "Bruce" standing across from me. Bruce seemed like an appropriate name for him.

"You're going to love this in a second."  
>Bruce looked sceptical, and I continued to smile at him for a minute.<p>

"I'll take it from here, mate." Said a voice, and I felt warm hands grab my arm. I turned to see Liam, which I found surprising, considering the way he'd been looking at me lately made me think he'd rather have me catch hypothermia outside.

Bruce looked stunned as Liam dragged me towards the back entrance. I waved at Bruce with a huge grin. "Later, Bruce!"

Liam looked at me like I was mental. "Bruce? His name cannot be Bruce."

I shrugged. "Got no idea what his actual name is. I just thought he looked like a Bruce."

Liam exhaled loudly. "See, this is why you get stuck outside places. You antagonise people." He still had my arm and was leading me up steps to what I realised must be backstage.

I scoffed. "I do not antagonise people! Name one person I've antagonised - apart from Bruce."

We reached the hustle and bustle of backstage and I could see Zayn practising on stage. Liam's face then came into view.

"Me." He said, looking at me meaningfully then walking off to re-join the boys.

"Well, that was rude." I muttered to no one in particular.

-x-

"Someone's gotten under Liam's skin," Louis commented as they walked off stage and Liam took off to the other end.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," I grumbled, crossing my arms. "You guys were great, by the way."

"Thanks babe," Zayn said, lazily resting his arm across my shoulders.

Louis was still looking over at Liam. "What is it about you two?"

"Louis, I thought we'd sorted everything out the day you boys had your bright idea! I can't work out why he's being like this." I sighed and abruptly sat on the floor, meaning Zayn awkwardly fumbled around, trying not to fall with me. I muttered a sorry to him, but I wasn't really paying attention. In all the videos I'd watched of the boys, and remembering our very first meeting, Liam was always smiling and cracking jokes. He'd never been this reserved or sour, and I just didn't know what caused this changes in him. His moods were literally giving me whiplash.

"Here," Niall said, handing me a plate of food. "You look like you could use some cheering up."

Naturally, there was a burger from Nandos on the plate. Niall was already hoeing into his food like he hadn't eaten in weeks, and I envied how he never put on weight. He ate enough for three people and he was a little Irish kid.

I picked at my food half-heartedly while the boys stood around with their water bottles, trying to explain to me parts of the set and whether I thought something was a good idea or not, but I was barely listening. I just nodded a few times, and that seemed to be good enough for them.

"Zo, what's the matter?" Harry came over and sat down on the floor next to me.

"Nothing. I'm fine," I said dryly, not looking at him.

"Don't lie to me, I just spent three hours last night on Skype to your cousin." Harry took a swig of water, apparently traumatised by the ordeal.

I giggled before taking a deep breath. "Look, I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong with Liam. In the beginning, he seemed to like me just fine and I never questioned that, but now that he's obviously got a problem with me, I can't help but want to know why."

Harry nodded. "Don't worry, I know exactly how you feel. And yeah, Liam's got us all a bit stumped at the moment. Just talk to him. I'm sure you guys can work something out."

I looked out to where Liam was talking intently to Steve. I sighed and turned to face Harry. "Yeah, I'll try."

Harry patted my shoulder before standing up. "Come on lads, here we go again!"

The other boys groaned and dragged themselves back on stage, and I sneaked over to where Steve was standing. I didn't know how I planned to do this, but I was hoping it would work.

"Hi Steve!" I said brightly, grinning up at him.

He looked at me suspiciously. "You're getting nothing out of me."

I blinked my eyes furiously, pretending not to know what he meant. "What are you talking about, Steve?"

"You and Liam sort your shit out with each other, because I'm sick of hearing it. You're both good kids, but you're driving me insane."

This time I really was surprised. "You've been hearing about it?"

Steve looked guilty, realising he'd probably said too much already. "You talk about this with Liam, Zoe." That was precisely the last thing I wanted to do, and Steve could tell.

"You're going to have to just suck it up."

I stared at him angrily; not believing this is what I was hearing. "Me? Me, suck it up? Seriously Steve? I'm not the one walking around like I've been sucking on a lemon for the past week! He should take the bloody initiative to talk to _me _about it, considering it's him that has the problem!"

Steve didn't answer me, so I groaned loudly then stormed off to the rows of seats directly in front of the stage.

People were so dramatic here.

-x-

I literally thought my ears were bleeding, and it may have been partially my own fault. I was right up next to the stage with one of the boys' security guards, Paul, and I was screaming my head off like an absolute idiot. I also didn't help that I was surrounded by thousands upon thousands of screaming teenage girls. The Wembley was completely packed, and the atmosphere in there was astounding. The boys had just gone offstage after their encore, and the crowd was going wild. The three girls standing next to me were bawling their eyes out and waving around their handmade sign, which stated "LIAM WE LOVE YOU!". I snorted.

I should have told them not to bother.

Paul gripped my arm then, and pulled me in towards him. "Alright, time to get you backstage."

_Five star treatment I'm getting here,_ I thought, as Paul practically carried me around the side and through to backstage.

"YOU WERE SO GOOD!" I yelled, running up to the boys and jumping on Zayn's back. I was completely fan-girling, and I didn't care at all.

The boys were standing in a circle with their arms across each other's shoulders, howling loudly. I ran my finger through Zayn's sweaty mass of hair.

"Christ, you're all sweating like mad!" I could hardly talk, though. I was sweating pretty badly from being squished in the arena with all those other girls, seeing as I'd chosen to stand there with Paul opposed to the green room.

Louis and Harry started a dog-pile on the floor and Liam threw himself in as well. Out of all the boys, he'd surprised me the most. He basically just owned it up on stage, and he looked so, so happy. They all did, really.

Zayn swung me around and I screamed, gripping his shoulders tighter.

"You were amazing," I said into his ear, trying to be heard over the boy's shouts and yelps.

Zayn put me down and turned around so that we were facing each other. He shook out his sweaty quiff all over me and laughed.

"We're all really happy you came tonight."

"Of course! I can't believe I was hesitant at first!" I slapped my palm against my forehead. If I had missed this, I would have hated myself. Seeing the boys up there absolutely killing it just made me proud, almost. Especially of Zayn, who was able to harmonise everything so perfectly it left me breathless.

The boys still seemed to be in disbelief that they'd made it this far, and that this was their life now. They sort of just stood on stage after the encore, smiling up at the crowd and at each other. It was a nice feeling being able to think I was sort of part of this now. They'd all just practically adopted me as one of them, and it meant a lot, considering I didn't really know anyone else. I was going to miss them when they left tomorrow morning, and we'd already organised to meet each other at Harry and Louis' apartment at 7:30, half an hour before they needed to be on the bus and drive away from me.

I looked around at all their smiling faces, and at that moment, I realised I had to make a phone call. I glanced at the time, and seeing it was just past 10 o'clock, debated whether I should or not. I shook my head. I had to do it now; there wouldn't be another time.

I tore myself away from Zayn, saying I had to call someone. I walked out the back to where it was quieter and dialled the number, praying to God it wasn't too late.

"_Hello?"_

"Oh!" I said in surprise at the answer, "Yes, hello! It's Zoe Williams here. Sorry it's so late, but I need to talk with you."

"_What is it you need, Zoe?"_

I smiled widely.

-x-

**as always, hope you've enjoyed it,**

**so let me know what you like/love/hate or anything at all (:**

**till next week!**

**x**


	7. missing

**hey everyone,**

**i am so, so sorry that this is late, i was having one of those weeks.**

**year 12 is the biggest pain.**

**anyways, hope the chapter makes up for it!**

missing.

-x-

"WHO'S READY TO GO ON TOUR?" I screamed as I opened the door to Harry and Louis' apartment like a bazooka had blown through it. All five boys stopped what they were doing and stared at me, completely caught off guard. Niall even fell off the couch.

"Ambulance!" he cried, gripping his chest and breathing heavily.

"Zoe, it's too early to be excited," Zayn mumbled from he couch. He closed his eyes and had tipped his cap over his forehead. Nothing could ever come between Zayn and his sleep.

Harry eyed me sceptically. "Are you really that happy to see the back of us?" he asked, placing a hand to his heart and pretending to be hurt. "And I just had to buy a new bedhead because of you, can you not break my door now?"

"Well then, if I'm not wanted here, I'll just take my packed suitcase elsewhere…" I let a sly grin slip over my face.

"Wait -" Louis started.

"Suitcase?" Harry asked.

"Packed?" Zayn contributed, all the boys' expressions now changing from confused to excited.

"WHERE IS MY AMBULANCE?" Niall added, still on the floor, appearing to be unaware of what was going on.

I wheeled my small suitcase into the room. "Got room for one more?"

The boys all jumped up and ran to me, cheering. Louis and Harry engulfed me in a bear hug, while Zayn and Niall performed something along the lines of a traumatising victory dance. Liam stood back, but he did have the ghost of a smile on his face.

Last night I called the Uni and had lied to them, saying I was sick an unable to attend for at least the first week of the term. They had thought nothing of it and appeared to believe me, and although I didn't like having to lie, I was excited. It had been a bit of a split decision, but I knew now it was the right one. After seeing how happy playing shows and being on the road made the boys, I knew I wanted to be a part of that. It was time to start doing what I wanted, and I had the opportunity now to do just that. I would be crazy to pass it up.

"Okay okay!" I said with a laugh, "Calm down!"

"Calm down? Zoe this is great!" Niall said, no longer needing an ambulance apparently.

"Yes well, let's keep it on the down low, shall we? Nobody else knows - I didn't even tell my parents!" I hadn't even told Alex, whom I'd spoken to just last night after the boys' gig.

"Zoe, I don't think that's such a good idea." I turned around to face a worried looking Liam.

"Oh, come _on_," I groaned rolling my eyes. Even the other boys joined it.

"I just think you should have told your parents," Liam said, raising his hands.

"Liam, I'm 18. The same age as you. An adult. I don't have to ask my parents for permission, they're half way around the world!"

He shrugged. "Well, come on then, we have to meet everyone downstairs in like five minutes. Let's get a move on."

"Now that I can agree too!" Louis said, grabbing his suitcase and pointing towards the door. "Troops, move out!"

We all shuffled out the door and after splitting in half to go down the lift, arrived in the foyer area that was occupied by numerous staff and security guards. I was introduced to managers, handlers, and even the boys' bus driver. It was beyond overwhelming. I'd always been good with names, but I had no recollection of the ones that had just been recited to me. I was now going to have to greet everyone as "hey, you!"

I don't remember how I even got on the bus, but after we peeled off from the curb to start the two hour bus ride to Birmingham, I realised I must have loaded up my suitcase and stepped on.

The tour bus could have been my entire apartment. It was so big, it was bordering on ridiculous. Walking through the lower level, I saw there was a kitchen area, equipped much to my delight with a coffee machine, a small lounge area and a suspicious looking compartment I assumed must be the toilet. Climbing upstairs, I could spot 8 bunk beds, each with TV's and PlayStations and a second, more comfortable looking lounge.

I turned around and gaped at the boys, who were settling themselves comfortably onto the couches and turning on the TV.

"I could live in this thing!" I finally managed to throw out.

Louis smirked. "No you couldn't. There's no pooping allowed on the bus."

I scrunched my nose and thanked him for pointing that out. "Regardless, I still feel like Alice in Wonderland."

"No you don't. You're not nearly high enough to be Alice in Wonderland." Harry stated.

I gave up and retreated to the couch. Apparently nothing I was saying had any affect on them; touring was now part of their everyday life.

Zayn plonked down next to me a rested his hand lazily on my knee. Niall was playing around on his guitar, Louis was strolling the length of the bus whilst on his phone, and Harry and Liam were completely absorbed in whatever game they were playing on the PS3.

"You happy?" Zayn asked after a minute.

I grinned back like a madman. "Of course! I'm still in a bit of shock I'm actually here."

"So you should be," Zayn smirked, "No other girls have ever been privileged enough to be invited into the manmobile."

I stared at him in disbelief. "The manmobile?"

Zayn threw his head back and laughed. "Out of that whole sentence, that's all you got?"

"You can't use a word like manmobile and not expect me to comment."

Zayn shook his head; still laughing.

"But yes, I do feel special," I replied, patting his leg.

"Good," Louis said as he walked over, "Because Eleanor, Caroline and Danielle were never allowed on."

"Okay, you can't keep throwing these names around and not explain to me who the hell they are." I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at Louis. He glanced around sidewards to Liam and Harry who had pursed their lips and were pretending to be even more captivated by the game.

"I'm hungry, you guys hungry? I'm hungry. Let's get food." Niall stuttered hurriedly, and within seconds all the boys apart from Zayn had leaped up and practically sprinted downstairs to the galley.

I smiled widely at Zayn. "Zayn…"

He groaned, knowing exactly what I was getting at. "Fine, considering we have two hours, you might as well hear the whole story."

I settled down further into my seat and glanced out the window; watching the winding city roads bend and twist just like the ones back home.

At least one thing always stayed the same.

-x-

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was a denim shirt. I quickly snapped my head up, mortified.

"Gross, Zo. You drooled on me." Liam cocked his head to survey the damage on his shoulder.

"How long was I out for?" I asked, wiping my mouth and staring at the wet patch I'd left on him.

"Only about 45 minutes. How can you fall into a deep sleep that quickly?"

I shook my head, disorientated. The bus had just come to a stop, and I realised we must have arrived in Birmingham. Zayn was on my other side, smirking noticeably, and the other three boys must have been downstairs in the kitchen. The last thing I could remember had been Zayn explaining to me all about the boys' horror month for relationships late last year, and that Danielle, Caroline and Eleanor were Liam, Harry and Louis' respective exes.

"This industry can make a lot of simple things harder." Zayn had told me, and after hearing the whole story, I definitely believed him. Constantly travelling, unfavourable media attention and little time together didn't sound like the basis of a successful relationship.

I wiped my hands on my leggings and rubbed my eyes. "Sorry about your shirt," I told Liam guiltily. He shrugged it off, and mumbled something about needing to change it anyway.

We all started to move slowly off the bus, and to my surprise, there were no crazed fans around.

"What the hell?" I asked to no one in particular. "Where's all the screaming? Are you saying I brought my ear plugs for nothing?"

"I'll pretend you never said that," Zayn replied with a chuckle. "We publicised that we were arriving later on tonight."

We made our way up to our hotel rooms without fuss, and once everything was all settled and the boys had spoken to Henry and Anne, their managers - although I couldn't remember each of their specific roles - we all congregated in Louis and Harry's shared room. It was now almost 10:30, and the boys had to be at a radio interview at 11, before heading down to the Arena for their show. Liam had now changed into a drool-free fitted white shirt, and the boys were standing around, working out what they were going to do after the show tonight. Apparently their label, Syco, was having some party, and Simon expected the boys to make an appearance. What he probably hadn't counted on, however, was a blonde Australian girl rocking up as well.

I groaned. "I have not packed for this!" If anything, I'd packed like a friggin' hobo, with pretty much nothing but jeans, leggings and jumpers making up my whole wardrobe for the coming week. I also realised I had no shoes. Holy shit, I'd be arriving in my Converse.

"Now you spring this on me?" I continued to complain. "Nup, it's not happening. I will not arrive at an event like this looking like bloody Helena Bonham Carter."

The boys were eyeing me suspiciously. They knew I never really worried about clothes or dressing up. It wasn't that I was a tomboy or anything like that, I'd just always had more pressing things to worry about.

After they all left, Paul told me he'd be in his room if I needed anything. I thanked him, but said unless he was hoarding an appropriate outfit I could wear for tonight, I highly doubted I'd be needing him desperately.

I called Alex. It was only around 10pm at home, he'd still be up and I needed some serious calming down.

"Zo!" Alex exclaimed upon answering. "What are you doing calling? Shouldn't you be in class?"

My stomach moved to my throat. _Shit,_ I thought, _Alex was supposed to think I'd be at school!_

"Oh, I - I'm sick," I stuttered, pretending to cough extremely badly.

Alex laughed. "Bullshit you are, what's going on? Why aren't you at school?"

The only words coming to me were expletory. I'd completely forgotten everyone still thought I was starting Uni today. I didn't know what I was going to say to get out of this one.

"No, seriously, I really am sick." There was more coughing. I made a mental note to never, ever attempt becoming an actress.

"Yeah, sure." Alex replied, clearly not fooled. "But Seb called me yesterday, asking about you. He said you haven't spoken to him since you left! What's all that about?"

This had gone horribly wrong. Not only did I not want to talk about why I wasn't at school, Seb talk was not going to help my mood either.

"Oh, you know," I said, brushing it off. "We've both been so busy, him with baseball, me with getting ready for school…"

"And you becoming a pathological liar," Alex cut in, unimpressed. "Zo, he told you he liked you, not that he was a serial killer."

I cringed, not being able to think about something I'd rather not talk about anymore than this topic. Seb and I'd always been close; we'd know each other since we were four. His older brother Oliver was best friends with my brother Lucas, and because of that our parents had grown really close. As much as I'd always enjoyed having Seb around and being so close, it didn't mean that I necessarily had feelings for him in _that_ way.

"Alex, please, you know how I feel about Seb. And regardless, it was awful timing. I'm in England, he's in America. Tell me how that would even work remotely!"

"Yeah, I know, but it doesn't mean you have to cut him off completely. You're best friends." Alex paused and took a deep sigh. "What's been going on, Zo? Over the past couple of weeks, you've seemed so distant. I've hardly heard from you, and same with your parents. Your mum rang me a couple days ago asking about you. Have you spoken to her? And same with your brothers. Luke told Ollie, who told Seb, who told me when we spoke yesterday. They miss you."

My stomach wasn't just in my throat now, it had fully reached my mouth. I'd been so caught up in my little fairy tale world here in England, that maybe I had left my old life and everyone associated with it behind.

When I didn't respond, Alex sighed again. "Sort it out Zo, because no one else can."

I agreed and after an exchange of goodbyes, we hung up; Alex feeling frustrated, and me feeling violently ill. When I heard the ringing of a phone again, my heart sunk, thinking it was for me.

As I walked into the living area after realising it wasn't my phone, I noticed Liam's Blackberry nestled in the crack of the couch. I stared at the screen.

_Danielle Peazer 1 missed call._

-x-

**and there you have it, another chapter over.**

**hope you all enjoyed, and let me know what you think (:**

**have a good rest of the weekend!**

**x**


	8. impressions

**honestly, i don't think i could be more sorry than i am right now.**

**can't believe this is so late, but i've had so much on at the moment, i just haven't been able to update!**

**don't hate me, and i hope the chapter makes up for it!**

impressions.

-x-

I was wandering aimlessly around Bullring shopping centre, wishing I had brought a map or some breadcrumbs to leave a trail to the exit. I'd managed to find a pair of black crochet shorts on sale in ZARA, as well as a pair of nude pumps that weren't so on sale; in fact, I was pretty sure they were a week's pay in leather. The overly helpful attendant in H&M had managed to talk me into buying a salmon pink satin tank and a whole load of jewellery I'd never usually wear, and it just further proved how in over my head I really was.

I was beyond confused, not just about how to get out of the huge shopping centre, but also how I was meant to react to Alex's previous comments or why on Earth Danielle was calling Liam. Zayn had told me all about their break up, and it was anything but tidy.

As I turned around and realised I'd led myself to a dead end, I couldn't help but think this dead end was maybe trying to tell me something.

It was now around 2 in the afternoon, and the boys had just rung to say they were on their way to rehearse for tonight. I'd told them I was sitting in my hotel room watching _Friends_ re-runs, and that it was because of laughter that I was panting, not because I was running around a shopping centre.

I ended up having to ask for directions, and after that had managed to call Paul and ask him to come get me. Naturally, he was pissed I hadn't told him I was going. I didn't understand why though; I was an unknown, nobody knew who I was or my connection to the boys. I didn't matter. I pointed this out, but he just clicked his tongue and didn't comment.

Once back in my hotel room, I ran around like a lunatic showering, blow-drying my hair and shoving my new clothes in a bag. I'd decided I could still wear the new shorts to the gig, but there was no way I was going to wear the heels or shirt. I threw on loose tank and my pair of Converse, before running back into the bathroom to attempt styling my hair and doing my makeup. I'd already received a warning phone call from Zayn and Louis, saying that if I was late or got stuck outside again they'd personally murder me.

By 4:30 I was done. I inspected myself in the mirror, wondered who on Earth was staring back at me, then grabbed my bag and bolted out the door; remembering to make a stop past Louis and Harry's room to grab Liam's phone and then met Paul by the lifts.

"Nice hair," Paul commented while we descended.

"I swear to God if that was sarcasm, I'll cut you." I didn't even flinch as I said it. My hair had taken over an hour; if Paul was going to insult it, he would have to die.

He raised his hands innocently. "I meant every word," he said, no hint of humour in his voice or on his face. "You look nice."

Nice. Two hours of frantic shopping and almost three hours of getting ready and I looked 'nice'. I shook my head at Paul. "I really need to teach you how to talk to women."

He shrugged as he opened the car door for me. "My wife says the same thing."

I chucked my bag over onto the backseat first then stepped in, checking my phone that had just vibrated. It was Zayn, saying I only had an hour and that I should stop pouting at my crazy hair and just get there. My crazy hair. Honestly, what was with the men here?

-x-

"I can't believe I'm wearing these stupid things for you!" I hissed at the boys as we made our way to some club I didn't know the name of.

"Don't be ridiculous, we didn't make you wear them," Harry looked mortified that I would suggest such a thing.

"You can't invite a girl to a club and not expect heels to be worn." I threw my hands up and almost whacked Zayn - who was helping me walk - right in the face. "God, you all have _so _much to learn."

Zayn dodged my flying arm and caught me just before I came crashing down on the ground. "You're going to break an ankle in those things!" he exclaimed.

"I'm going to break my face, actually," I clarified, huffing slightly. Heels and I had never gotten along. Because I'd always been quite tall, I'd never really had much need for heels. My extreme clumsiness also didn't help my cause either. I could barely walk on the flat ground, let alone 10cm above it.

We reached the doors relatively unscathed and Niall propped it open for all of us. Paul was tagging along behind, as was Anne who I'd just been reminded was the boys' handler. The only problem was that it wasn't the boys who particularly needed handling; it was me. We'd had to make it through a sea of paparazzi and I was almost completely sure I'd be blind for days because of the number of flashes that went off. I also was a little uncomfortable about even being photographed with them, but thankfully Paul had grabbed me and half covered me from the cameras, so I may have not even been that noticeable. The boys had then taken to what they did best besides performing; standing there and looking pretty. I honestly didn't understand how they could be so at ease standing for God knows how long smiling. My jaw would have been aching after five seconds.

The boys had performed their sold out show a little over an hour ago, and straight afterwards we quickly changed, then were shoved back in the car to make our way over to the Syco party.

Stepping into the club, the first thing I noticed was the decorating. The entire place was covered in warm blue and red lights, and there were several raised VIP platforms scattered around the room. It was completely packed, and as soon as I walked in I was hit with a wave of heat. I thanked God I'd decided on shorts.

Once we were all inside, Zayn grabbed my hand and lead us to one of the VIP platforms; the one with the private bar, naturally.

"Am I going to get to meet Simon?" I asked slyly, batting my lashes.

"Of course that would be the first thing you ask!" Zayn said with a laugh. "Yeah, we'll go talk to him a bit later on, okay?"

I nodded and retreated to the suede couch at the back and attempted to take everything in. The boys were talking to groups of people after groups of people; laughing, smiling, appropriately holding eye contact with all of them and looking interested in what they were saying. I was already yawning, and I hadn't even heard any of what was said.

"Don't look too excited," Liam said as he sat down on the couch next to me. I wriggled over, realising I had completely beached myself and had only left a centimetre for anyone else to squeeze into.

"Sorry," I said, guiltily, "I don't mean it to look like that, I'm just tired." To further emphasise my point, I let out a huge yawn.

Liam chuckled. "You want a drink?" he nodded over to where the other boys were standing by the bar.

I shook my head. "Nah, then I actually will fall asleep." It wasn't the only reason; after last time, I was kind of put off drinking for a while. "Why aren't you getting anything?"

Liam shrugged. "I don't drink."

I was surprised. Not that I thought Liam was some insane alcoholic, but because he was 18, and living with four other teenage boys who didn't shy away from a drink or two. "Like, at all?" I furrowed my eyebrows and stared intently.

Liam shook his head. "I just choose not to."

I was definitely impressed. "So, that makes you the designated driver AND the babysitter. Don't you ever get tired of being the adult?"

"The way I figure it, someone's got to do it. Why not me?"

"But, doesn't it ever get boring?" I was still trying to wrap my head around all this.

Liam snorted. "Please, you wouldn't be saying that if you knew what drunk Louis was like. Trust me, being sober and knowing how to use the camera on your phone is way better that getting smashed."

I looked up to the bar where I saw Niall, Louis and Zayn doing a round of shots. Harry was merely spectating, as being under 18 allowed him to do. Apparently Harry was looking forward to a drunk Louis too, as he was handing him shotglass after shotglass, the cheekiest smile plastered on his face.

I grinned. "Harry's getting Louis drunk."

Liam rolled his eyes. "You know, for something different."

I laughed as I watched the boys continue, and it was beyond entertaining. I almost fell off the couch in hysterics after catching a glimpse of Zayn's face after he downed something pink and suspicious looking. While I watched the others and laughed, Liam watched me and laughed.

"You're definitely more amusing to watch than Louis dance."

I scoffed. "Then you clearly have not seen _me _dance."

Liam raised an eyebrow and stood up, holding his hand out. "Come on, let's see what you've got then."

I shook my head furiously. "I don't think so, mate!"

"I'll tell Louis he beats you at everything."

I was on my feet so quickly I nearly gave myself whiplash. "Bastard."

-x-

"This is so unfair!" I found myself screaming to Liam as we danced. Well, as he danced, and I awkwardly shuffled around. "You can actually dance!"

Liam shrugged. "Guess I win then?"

"Like hell you do," I replied, and placed a hand on his shoulder to balance myself.

"What are you doing?" he asked. I didn't respond; I was too preoccupied by pulling my shoes off.

"There!" I said triumphantly, "Now let's try this again properly!"

We continued to dance for a few more minutes; this time with no restrictions in the form of 10cm heels. However, while we moved and laughed, there was a thought gnawing away at the back of my mind, and eventually I gave into it.

I leaned in closer to Liam's ear. "Why is Danielle calling you?"

Liam stopped suddenly and his eyes widened. "You went through my phone?"

"What?" I asked in shock, as if he would accuse me of something like that! "No, but it rang while you were out, and when I found it her name was on the screen."

Liam didn't respond, he just walked off the dance floor and back to the booth.

"Oi!" I screeched after him, bending down to scoop my shoes up.

"Leave it, Zo!"

"Liam! Stop!" I scrambled after him, weaving in between dancing drunk people, until I smacked into someone. "Shit, my bad!" I told the man without looking at his face; I was too preoccupied at trying to track down Liam. Unfortunately for me, the man blocked my path and looked down at me.

Simon Cowell did not look impressed, and I was left opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish, whilst clutching my shoes. It would have been beyond unattractive.

"And to whom do you belong?" he asked me in his thick accent.

I stumbled over my first sentence. "Now's not a great time," I managed to choke out after a minute, and dodged around him before taking off in the direction I last saw Liam.

Christ, I just blew off Simon Cowell. For Liam. Something was very, _very _wrong.

"Liam!" I called to distract myself from that dangerous thought. Louis came into view then, in a clearly drunken state.

"Zo-e!" he articulated the e considerably more than necessary and I cringed.

"Lou," I asked, "Where's Liam?"

"Liam?" Louis looked confused.

I gaped at him, then he started to chuckle. "Kidding Zo-e! He just left."

"Left?" I hissed. "For shit's sake!" I threw my shoes at Louis, who managed to catch them both after one hit him right in the face. I didn't even get to say sorry; I was already sprinting for the door. Behind me, I was sure I could hear Simon Cowell's voice mutter an "Honestly, who is that girl?"

He had a point. Who the hell was I turning into?

-x-

**as always, hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review and favourite ;)**

**for next week, i'm hoping i'll be on time, but i do still have a lot of work due,**

**so bear with me all!**

**x**


	9. publicity

**yeahp, that's right; i'm back to being on time for once!**

**thought i'd treat you all and update twice this week ;)**

publicity.

-x-

The wet pavement was cold on my feet as I sprinted away from the club. Rain was pelting down, and I raised a hand to my face to shield my eyes and help them search for Liam's body. Unfortunately for me, my eyes were tired and it took me twice as long to spot Liam's wet curly head walking off to a street on my left. I took off in his direction, but this time without making a commotion.

When I finally reached him, he turned around and jumped out of his skin at my appearance.

"For Christ's sake, Zo, put some fucking shoes on."

"Not the opening line I was going for, Liam," I huffed back, hopping from one foot to the next to stop them from freezing off.

"Go back, get your bloody shoes, and call someone to pick you up. You're going to get bloody sick." Despite telling me to leave, he pulled off his grey jumper and threw it over my head.

"No, Liam, let me explain." I hitched up the sleeves of his jumper that had fallen past my hands. He opened his mouth to protest, no doubt, but I threw hands over his face.

"Is it Liam's listening time again?" he mumbled against the palm of my hand.

"Ew, you licked me. But yes, it is." I sighed deeply before beginning. "Look, Zayn told me all about your break up with Danielle." Liam's eyes narrowed, but he didn't open his mouth and I took this as an invitation to continue.

"I know it wasn't mutual; I know that you still wanted to try and make it work. I know it was hard for you." Liam's eyes widened a little, and he tried to grab my hands away from his mouth.

"For God's sake, we've done this before, how can you still not understand the rules of Liam's listening time?" I cried, slightly exasperated and a touch too dramatic. "So what I'm trying to say is, when I saw her name pop up on your phone, I was confused. And frankly, a little worried about you. I don't want her to try and come back into your life after she told you she wanted nothing to do with it anymore. You deserve better than that, Liam."

Liam grabbed my arms gently and slowly lowered them away from his face. Raindrops dripped off the end of his nose and lips as he looked down to the floor, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. "Zo," he started, but unfortunately didn't get to finish, as there was a sudden, blinding flash of light behind me, and I turned to see a photographer holding his camera and smiling gleefully.

"Oi!" I cried at him, quickly slipping my arms out of Liam's grasp. "You bastard, get out of here!"

The photographer snapped another - surely exceedingly attractive - photo of us, and I stepped towards him angrily. I didn't get to reach him, as Liam snaked out his arm and grabbed me around my waist; heaving me backwards.

"Liam, let go of me right now!" I protested, trying to break free.

"Shut up Zo," Liam hissed, "just shut up." He was now half lifting me into the air to stop me fighting him.

Out of nowhere, Paul suddenly appeared and dragged the photographer back, before stalking up to us and shielding our bodies with his.

"What on God's green Earth were you two bloody thinking?" Paul was beyond pissed, and I winced at the tone of his voice. He didn't even wait for us to respond; he just yanked our arms along behind him while yelling something threatening to the photographer. We were led back to the front of the club, where a car was now waiting. The back window rolled down and Louis head appeared.

"Here they are!" he said cheerfully, sticking his hand out to grab my shoulder. "I missed you guys!"

"Not the time, Lou," I grumbled back as Paul practically shoved me inside the car.

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me tonight? I still don't understand why Simon wouldn't let me show everyone how to properly take off a pair of Chinos."

I grimaced along with the other boys as I sat down next to Niall. At least he still looked relatively sober. Zayn was already half asleep, his head resting comfortably on Harry's shoulder. Harry himself looked extremely amused and was clearly happy with how drunk Louis obviously was. Liam, however, was wearing a sour expression as he sat down next to Louis; the furthest he could sit away from me. We were both soaking wet, and I was still wearing his now waterlogged jumper. I shivered noticeably and rubbed my bare legs with my palms.

"Cor," Louis exclaimed, staring at my legs, "Look at those goosebumps! They're nearly as big as Paul's boobs!"

Paul was definitely not impressed, and scowled from me to Louis then back again, letting his eyes settle on mine. I felt exceedingly guilty then, and a wave of nausea engulfed me.

"As soon as we get back to the hotel, we all need to talk," called Liz from the front. She was angry, and wasn't even bothering to mask the sound of it in her voice.

I gulped.

-x-

"I'm sorry," I pleaded again to Liam as we walked through the doors and into the foyer of the hotel. He still wasn't listening to me, he just brushed me off and followed Paul to the elevators.

"Oh, fantastic, ignore me some more. That'll solve all our problems." I threw my hands up, defeated, and smacked Louis right in the face.

"I'm awake!" He stuttered, blinking furiously. I shook my head at him, but not even Louis' drunken antics could make me smile at the moment.

Once we were all upstairs in Louis and Harry's room, Liz began her rant. It involved a lot about disappointment, and I could constantly feel her eyes fixed on me. After Paul told her everything that happened with the photographer, and Liam filled in the gaps from before Paul arrived, we then had to talk about setting our story straight, and the public relations manager was called.

James, the PR rep, was not happy with either the situation or being called at 4 in the morning. After much deliberation, they eventually came up with a story to explain any photos that were published: I was a crazed fan and Liam was helping me, hence why I could be seen in his jumper. Naturally, I hated that. I was definitely not some desperate teenage girl that would have a breakdown if I got to touch a member of One Direction's hand. But as soon as I piped up with my distaste, I was met with harsh looks and stony silences. Frankly, no one cared what I thought right now.

The last thing they decided on was particularly hard, and that was that tomorrow - or today, really - morning, when the boys left for Liverpool, I'd be driven back to London. I wasn't to be seen at any other shows, and I was to go to my lectures everyday, all week. It was as though I was being punished.

As an exhausted Liz and Paul finished up with James, we were allowed to go back to our rooms and get some much-needed rest. Louis had already passed out on the couch, and Harry lovingly pulled his shoes off and turned his head to the side, in case of any accidents. Liam and Niall left first, bidding everyone a mumbled goodnight and Harry retreated to his room, leaving Zayn and I.

"Did you want me to walk you back?" Zayn asked with a yawn.

I shook my head. "No. I think I'd prefer to be alone, actually."

Zayn merely nodded and sighed, then patted my shoulder and followed in Liam and Niall's direction.

I walked to my room slowly, not really believing what had just happened. I was still barefoot, hugging my shoes tightly to my chest. I had dried off a little, meaning that Liam's jumper didn't smell wet anymore; it smelt distinctly of him. When I reached my bed, I didn't bother changing. I flopped down and threw my shoes to the floor before burying my face in my pillow and drifting off into a clouded, not entirely restful sleep.

-x-

My apartment felt empty. I sighed as I wheeled my suitcase into my bedroom and grudgingly started to put all my things out. I tried to appear calm on the outside, but inside I was positively fuming. Everything had just gone ridiculously wrong. This morning, I'd woken up to complete silence. The boys had all left earlier, the only thing that remained to remind me they'd ever been there was a note that had been shoved under my door, saying goodbye and that they'd call me later.

The driver who came to collect me from out the front of the hotel said nothing during our two hour trip, and it just furthered proved how different things were going to be now.

I shook my head vigorously to rid myself of that thought, and dramatically threw the clothes that were in my hands all over the floor. Groaning, I cursed my current predicament and stood up, before stalking out to the kitchen to find comfort food so I could wallow in self-pity.

Liam was never going to talk to me again; that much was obvious. If I had thought our past arguments and fights had been bad, this put all of those to shame. This was big.

Louis was probably too drunk to really remember what had even happened, and because he was the one I was closest to, I was hoping things between us wouldn't change too much. Niall, as much as I loved him, would probably support Liam, meaning I could write him off, but Harry would more than likely follow Louis' lead.

Zayn was a hard one. He and Liam were best friends, but what was I to him? That was just the problem; who was I to all the boys?

I plonked onto the couch with a tub of ice cream and a spoon, thinking how pathetic I was. I stared onto the coffee table, where all my Uni books were piled. I grimaced through a mouthful of ice cream at them. They were my life now, not the five boys who lived down the corridor.

The boys still hadn't called me by 5 o'clock, and I was getting slightly anxious. I had taken to pacing the length of my apartment numerous times, and staring at Liam's now dry jumper hanging off the back of the couch.

Eventually I got sick of my own uselessness, and grabbed my coat and purse and marched out the door. London hadn't changed while I was gone, and that was somewhat comforting. The weather was still miserable, and I'd usually curse or complain about it, but not today. Anything that proved things were the same as they had been a few days ago, I was happy with.

After a few minutes of walking, I spotted a newsstand. Considering I hadn't been able to read the paper while I was away, I stalked over. After grabbing a newspaper, my eyes fell on the cover of a teenage girl magazine standing nearby. I skimmed the front, and while there was nothing remotely appealing about the stories it was showcasing, there was a small insert along the side that caught my attention. I picked it up and stared closer.

I dropped the magazine to the floor, and the cashier yelled an aggressive "hey!" at me.

I didn't respond; I was rooted to the spot. There, in the insert of a British magazine, was a photo of me. I was soaking wet, Liam's jumper was so baggy that it completely covered my shorts, making me look about 300 pounds and pant-less, and my hair was plastered all over my face. Saying I looked terrible was a huge understatement. Liam, on the other hand, seemed like he was completely expecting the photo, meaning I just looked like a deranged lunatic. I definitely could have passed for crazed fan, and I told myself I would have to call James and tell him thanks for that.

This bothered me though. I'd never been shy, but I wasn't an attention seeker, and I sure as hell didn't get a buzz from being on the cover of a magazine. Especially next to Liam.

I wondered whether the boys knew, and that maybe it was because of this that I hadn't heard from them. They were cutting me off. Emancipating me.

I shook my head and bent down to pick up the magazine. I put it back whilst the cashier eyed me suspiciously. I tried to force a smile, but it must have come out completely wrong because she took a step back and closed the till.

Yes, I was going to rob her. Surely that could be the only explanation.

I sighed and got out my phone, debating on whether to call or not. I could call Paul, or even Liz. That way, I wouldn't have to speak to any of the boys and limit the awkwardness between us. I realised this would have worked a lot better if I actually had their numbers. I slapped my palm to my face, and after a few more seconds of deliberation, dialled Louis' number. I crossed my fingers that he would answer.

"We're about to start the show. Call back later." A deep voice said, and it was clearly not Louis.

"Wait, Liam," I started, still a little shocked and confused as to why he was now Louis' personal receptionist.

"Liam, I need to talk to you. Have you seen the -" I didn't get to finish; Liam had already hung up.

This was _so _not good.

-x-

**as usual, let me know what you guys think!**

**also want to say a _huge _thank you for all the support so far, it's seriously the most amazing thing.**

**now, for next week, hate to say it; but i might be a tad late.**

**i swear, this will only keep happening for the next couple of weeks at most, because i'll be on holidays soon and hopefully updates will be more consistent!**

**have a great week all (:**

**x **


	10. choices

**hello hello hello!**

**cannot believe it has been so long since i've updated! and thank you all so much for being patient :)**

**i'm so sorry i've let myself get behind! this was literally the first time i didn't have a chapter ready in advance, and i absolutely hated the feeling!**

**i hope this chapter makes up for it somewhat, and i should have another one up by next week!**

**fingers crossed, all.**

choices.

-x-

I was huffing like a lunatic as I ran up the stairs to the lecture room. King's College was beyond huge, and not only was I late to begin with, I'd also gotten myself lost within the first ten seconds of setting foot on the campus. My bag was swinging wildly at my sides, and with every step hit the back of my thigh, meaning my run was looking a bit like I was in the midst of having an epileptic fit.

I was apparently meant to be on the Strand Campus, and in the Edmond J Safra lecture theatre. Ideally, I should have been there fifteen minutes ago. Today was the last day of orientation for first years, and I was slightly nervous about having missed the first two days. People had probably already started to make their friends, and I doubted I'd find it easy to worm my way into pre-existing groups. That thought then brought me directly to the boys, and I shuddered.

I still hadn't spoken to them since the day I came back to London. Liam obviously hadn't told Louis I'd rang, as I never got a call back. I could have texted him, called again, tried the other boys; but I was too proud and stubborn for that. Instead, I was going to prefer to suffer in silence.

"You are allowed to come in, you know." A calm, deep voice cut through my thoughts. I snapped my head up to realize I'd opened the door to the lecture hall and was standing in the open doorway. The room was absolutely packed with all the current Law first years, so much so that the stragglers and late-comers were congregated around the door.

The boy who had spoken shuffled around and gently pushed me through in front of him. "You're shorter; I doubt you'd be able to see over me if you continue to stand there." His accent was thick and reminded me a little of Liam's, which further caused me to hesitate and resulted in the boy grabbing me with a little extra force.

"Jude, would you stop nudging me? You got my ribs that time!" A small, dark haired girl piped up, an angry expression crossing her delicate features as she turned to reprimand the boy. He ignored her, and simply shoved me into the room and next to the short girl.

"Thanks," I managed to spit out after a moment of delay.

Jude simply nodded and went back to leaning lazily against the door.

The girl, however, was intrigued. "You an Australian?" she asked, her dark eyes staring up at me.

I shrugged. "No, I put the hideous accent on for fun."

Jude snorted behind me, but the girl narrowed her eyes. "Come on, Soph," Jude said, "Leave the poor girl alone."

The next two hours were spent in largely the same way; standing by the door, attempting to take in everything about Uni life that was spilling from the aging lecturer's lips, and trying to ignore the commentary coming from behind me. Trying not to laugh at Jude's snide comments was an exhausting process.

When we finally stopped for a break, I was part relieved, but also slightly anxious. People had already broken off into their cliques, and I was panicking, thinking I'd be alone on my first day.

"I'm Jude, by the way." A hand was stuck out over my shoulder and I shook it awkwardly.

"Zoe," I replied, not bothering to mention I was already aware of his name. Jude smiled widely and gripped Soph's shoulder.

"This is Sophie." Sophie nodded and shook my hand also, apparently not bitter about my previous remark.

"Nice to meet you," I said shakily. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I'd never struggled with making new friends or meeting new people. It was like being back in primary school all over again.

"Haven't seen you here this week," Jude commented as we turned to walk out of the room.

"Yeah," I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, "I was in Birmingham for a couple of days. Some friends took me up there for a bit." Friends. Sweet joke, Zoe.

"How long have you lived here?" Jude asked, seeming to be surprised.

"Almost a month now." That shocked me as soon as the words left my mouth. It had only been a month, and in that time, I'd managed to make five friends and lose them all at the same time. That had to be some kind of record.

Jude nodded as we walked down the corridor, and his almost black hair bounced along with him. "Are you living here, at the college?"

"No, I have my own apartment just outside the city centre."

Jude let a low whistle escape his lips. "Half your luck."

Sophie sighed dramatically. "Jude, you hardly even live in your dorm. You've stayed with me pretty much every week you've been in London."

I was confused. Jude and Sophie didn't seem like they were together, yet he was always staying at her place? "Are you two….?" I trailed off, waiting for a response.

"Cousins," Sophie finished, "Jude's from Wolverhampton, but we both decided to study together in London."

Wolverhampton. Of course he was from Wolverhampton.

While I stood there with my jaw touching the ground, Sophie continued to talk about Uni life and that I was going to love it. I was hardly listening, until one word brought me back to the present.

"Netball? There's a netball team?" I stuttered, pleasantly surprised.

"Sure is," Sophie replied, "Tryouts are next Monday at 3. You play?"

"Have since I was 8." I muttered back, but now my heart wasn't in it. Monday was the day the boys got back. Would I blow off meeting them and go to tryouts?

"I'll be there." I decided after a minute.

-x-

By the time I got back to my apartment at 3, I was exhausted. I had severely underestimated just how tiring and full-on University was, and I'd only braved one day so far.

I sighed as I dumped my bags onto the kitchen bench. Unfortunately I did it with a tad too much force, and books went spilling out onto the floor. I groaned as I bent down to pick them up, and my phone started vibrating in m pocket. I was trying to juggle the pile of books in one hand and answer my phone with the other, and just as I pressed the accept button, I lost my balance and stumbled to the floor.

"What?" I said into the phone angrily. I hadn't even bothered to check the caller ID, and I was hoping whoever it was wouldn't be offended by my shortness.

"If you don't want to talk, I can hang up now."

I froze at the sound of his voice, and immediately stopped gathering my books together.

"Zo?"

"Yes, I'm here." I mumbled, not even remotely sure what to say to him.

"How are you?"

That knocked me off guard. Seriously? He was going to ask how I am? This was a joke.

"I'm…fine." I answered slowly.

Liam exhaled deeply, and I realised he was just as unprepared for this as I was.

"How's Uni?" he asked, and that's when I lost it.

"Tell me you're joking, Liam," I hissed. "Are you actually going to ignore what happened Monday night?" I was beyond confused as to what he was playing at.

"Christ, Zo, I was just trying to go back to how it used to be. Do you seriously want to argue all the time? I'm over it. I forgive you."

"Oh, that's fantastic. You forgive me. Excellent. Now we can all just go back to living our lives as normal." I was verging on hysterical, and literally was in disbelief about what had just come out of Liam's mouth.

"Zo, no, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant -"

"What, Liam? What did you mean? Why did you call? You sure as hell didn't want to hear about it yesterday. You didn't care at all that I was freaking out because I'm not prepared for this. I don't know how to handle being friends with all of you. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I know," he said with a sigh. "We all know."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" I asked, throwing my hands up. I was fighting back anger tears now, and that just frustrated me more. "I'm not a bloody TV show host, or a dancer, or a model. I'm not made for this, Liam."

"But you just don't get it, Zo!" Liam too was sounding a little exasperated. "That's the whole point. There's a reason all the relationships with those girls broke down. Why the hell would we try something like that again? Do you really think we're all that stupid?"

I didn't say anything. How was I meant to respond to that? Of course, I knew they weren't stupid. But telling myself they were was a hell of a lot easier than trying to rationalise it.

"James took care of everything with the magazine and the photos," Liam continued when I didn't give a response. "We're out of the woods. We just need to be more careful next time. But it's your choice, Zo. If you think that the friendship between all of us is worth saving, then we'll sort it out. We'll make it work; we'll teach you how to cope. But if you don't, we won't judge you for that. Sure, it'll be tough. But it's your decision; no one else can make it for you."

"Liam, why are you the one telling me this?" I didn't understand. Why wasn't I talking to Zayn, or Louis about this? They were my best friends. Or what about Niall and Harry, who were substitute brothers to me? Why was it Liam? The one who I had the most complicated relationship with? "Liam, we still haven't even _talked _about Monday night. About everything that happened." I was referring to the whole Danielle thing, and although I was trying, I just couldn't let that go.

"Believe it or not, Zo, I do care. And if you want to talk about it, fine, we'll talk."

My heart was beating in my throat. I had no idea which way to take that, and I wasn't ready to make a decision just yet.

"Can I call you back?" I mumbled, trying to appear calm.

"Sure. We're about to head out for a show now, but tomorrow afternoon is good. Once you finish Uni, give us a call."

"Okay, Liam," I said after realising he probably couldn't see the reluctant nod I'd originally given to his statement. I hung up, but continued to sit on the floor, surrounded by a sea of my books. I had a choice to make now, and I'd always been terrible at making decisions. I used to wear odd pairs of socks as a kid, because I could never decide which ones I wanted to wear more. How can someone who used to do that possibly make a decision of this calibre?

I was being slightly dramatic, I knew that. But the boys meant a lot to me - there was no use in denying it.

I rubbed my eyes furiously with the backs of my hands, and for the first time ever since I'd arrived, I wished I was back home.

-x-

"You look like hell." Is what I was greeted to the next morning in the lecture room.

"Jude!" Sophie exclaimed at his comment.

I shook my head. "It's okay, he's right." I probably looked worse than hell. I couldn't sleep last night at all, and I knew my hair was a complete mess and my eyes were puffy and bloodshot.

"What happened?" Jude asked, looking a little confused.

That was the wrong question. "It's a long story." I replied shortly. "It's not important now, it's the first day. Let's just get through this."

I was lying blatantly. In reality, I wanted today to drag. I wanted to be eternally stuck in some time warp where it never would reach 3pm. That way, I wouldn't have to make the decision.

Other students were now filing into the room in soft murmurs and footsteps, and as soon as the lecturer walked in, I knew Jude's question time was over.

I sighed and pulled out my notebook from my bag. I hadn't so much as looked at my Uni notebooks until today, and when I opened it, I let out a loud gasp.

There, in the front insert, written in a scrawl that could only belong to a teenage boy, was a message.

_Have fun at University, geek! We'll miss you, so when you get home make sure you call us! Play nice with the other kids, and don't scare them too much. Remember who your first friends were, so don't you go replacing us!_

_Love ya Zo,_

_Louis, Zayn, Harry, Niall and Liam._

Underneath was a little cartoon drawing of me, wearing glasses and holding a stack load of books. My hair was everywhere and almost reached the floor, and I had a crazed smile plastered on my face. It was clearly Zayn's handy work, and it made me laugh for a fleeting moment. As I flicked through the rest of the book, I noticed on every page Harry had written either "Harry is hot", "Harry is the best" or "I love Harry more than Louis", and Zayn had accompanied this with a little doodle of each of the boys. They must have done this before they left on tour, when they still thought I wasn't going to go with them.

I wasn't ready to see that, and for the remainder of the lecture, I was pretty much a write-off. I would just have to copy down Jude's notes at another time.

As soon as it hit 2:30, I found myself sprinting out of the room, down the corridor and onto the awaiting bus. Jude and Soph didn't even have time to ask where I was going.

I blew into my apartment like some kind of enraged tornado; flinging my bag and books everywhere and reaching for my phone as soon as the door was shut. I dialled the number without even thinking, and I hadn't realised I'd memorised their numbers.

"Hey," a calm voice said.

"Liam," I started, swallowing hard, "I'm…I'm sorry."

-x-

**and there you go! ;)**

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**till next week!**

**x**


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